Supreme Court to Hear Chicago Gun Ban Case

(CN) – The Supreme Court announced Wednesday morning that it will hear a case questioning whether state and local handgun bans are constitutional.     The justices agreed to review McDonald v. Chicago, a lawsuit challenging Chicago’s handgun ban as a violation of the Second Amendment.     In June, the 7th Circuit upheld the handgun bans in Chicago and nearby Oak Park, citing the high court’s repeated assertions that the Second Amendment applies only to the federal government.     A year earlier, the Supreme Court overturned a similar ban in Washington, D.C., ruling 5-4 that the Second Amendment gives individuals – not just the militia – the right to bear arms.     The Chicago-based 7th Circuit dismissed the local challenges on the basis that the high court’s ruling in *District of Columbia v.* Heller dealt with federal law, while Chicago and Oak Park are state municipalities.     McDonald v. Chicago, one of the cases consolidated in the 7th Circuit ruling, will require the justices to decide if state and local governments must recognize the same individual right to bear arms established in Heller.