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Cases & Experience

District of Columbia v. Heller (U.S. Supreme Court)

In this challenge under the Second Amendment to the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns, we filed an amicus brief on behalf of the City of Chicago and the Chicago Public Schools. Chicago had imposed similarly strict limitations on handguns within the city and sought to argue against any rule that would invalidate its handgun laws. Specifically, the brief argued that the Second Amendment had not been, and should not be, “incorporated” to apply to state and local governments. That is, the Second Amendment limited the Federal Government’s power to pass certain limitations on the right to keep and bear arms, but not the power of state and local governments to do so. The Supreme Court ultimately struck down the DC law as unconstitutional.

Briefs

Amicus brief