Survey: Most Americans Tell Cities to Back Off Handgun Ban
The right to bear arms is one of those debates that is embedded into the American culture deeper than spies were in various parts of the world during the cold war.
And, a as a new survey indicates, an overwhelming majority of Americans reject the notion that cities have a right to ban handguns, siding with the Second Amendment Foundation’s (SAF) position in its lawsuit to overturn the Chicago ban.
Oral arguments in the SAF case were heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. Court observers predict the high court will overturn the Chicago ban, thus incorporating the Second Amendment to state and local governments through provisions in the 14th Amendment.
Results from Rasmussen’s national telephone survey found that 69 percent of the respondents say cities have no right to ban legal handgun ownership, while 25 percent believe cities can ban guns.
“The Rasmussen survey clearly shows that Americans have grown weary of anti-gun municipal demagoguery,” said SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb in a press release. “A victory in our case before the Supreme Court should send a clear signal to gun prohibitionists like Chicago Mayor Richard Daley that arbitrarily disarming law-abiding citizens under the guise of fighting crime is an idea that has no place in this country.”
On the side of the SAF is the Illinois State Rifle Association and four Chicago residents, including Otis McDonald, for whom the Supreme Court case is named.
The Rasmussen poll also found very little difference between current public sentiment and earlier surveys that noted 70 percent of American adults believe the U.S. Constitution guarantees the individual right to own a firearm.
There are many voices on both sides of this issue, but one thing is clear, the decision in this case will have a far reaching impact, no matter how the decision comes down.
“It is imperative that nothing said in the decision of this case threaten the ability of federal, state, and local governments to address the daunting ‘on the ground’ challenges posed by trying to keep guns out of the hands of extremists, terrorists, and hate criminals,” wrote Leonard Niehoff in an Anti-Defamation League brief, as reported by the Christian Science Monitor.
Photo credit: Reuters
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