Texas AG Asks Supreme Court to Clarify 2nd Amendment Rights

Today, along with the attorneys general of 32 other states, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. The brief asks the court to clarify whether the right to bear arms, guaranteed by the Second Amendment, extends to non-federal enclaves like states and cities. Abbott filed the request on behalf of a Chicago resident who has been prohibited by city ordinances from obtaining a handgun.

The brief, while acknowledging that states have some regulatory authority over gun ownership, asks the court to clarify the following question:

Whether the right of the people to keep and bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is incorporated into the Due Process clause or the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment so as to be applicable to the States, thereby invalidating ordinances prohibiting possession of handguns in the home.

[Austin Business Journal]