A Helpful And Concerned Zionist

University of Texas law professor Sanford Levinson, who believes the Second Amendment provides a right to individual ownership, says the government's new position might be easier for the court to adopt.

Professor Erwin Chemerinsky Wants Reasonable Regulation

Chemerinsky, of Duke Law School  believes that the regulation of guns should be analyzed in the same way "as other regulation of property under modern constitutional law" and "be allowed so long as it is rationally regulated.

^{Jack Balkin}

^{"My assumption is that there are at least five votes for the proposition that the Second Amendment protects an individual right," says Yale University law professor Jack Balkin. "But just because you say there is an individual right, you haven't resolved the case. … Is it an individual right to keep and bear arms that might be useful in militia service, a right to keep and bear arms that might be useful for self-defense, or both?" 1}

^{The Core Of It All}

Yet for decades, federal judges have seen the Constitution differently, allowing a range of gun-control measures imposed by governments seeking to curb gun violence.

Lower court judges overwhelmingly have ruled that the right "to keep and bear arms" isn't for individuals, but instead applies to state militias, such as National Guard units. The U.S. Supreme Court repeatedly declined to hear appeals of those rulings, fueling the debate over gun control and tension between the law and public opinion.

 ADL is an advocate for gun control legislation.

The ADL supports the District of Columbia before the US Supreme Court. That ruling prohibits guns even for self-defense in the home. The League urged the Court to ensure that states retain the ability to keep guns out of the hands of "violent bigots."