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Mcdonald Vs Chicago Case Study

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McDonald v. City of Chicago McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010) is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court involving Amendment II and Amendment XIV in 2010. Amendment II states that individuals has the right to “keep and bear arms” and Amendment XIV protects a citizens rights from being restricted from the states through the due process of law clause. Petitioner Otis McDonald, 76 at the time, was a retired maintenance worker who resided in Morgan Park in the City of Chicago. McDonald bought his house back in 1971, but claimed that drug dealers and gangs had takeover the community. He said his lawn was often cluttered with litter, his house was broken into three times, and his garage twice. McDonald being an avid hunter, owned two shotguns at the time, but felt the guns were too bulky and awkward to carry around. He wanted to purchase a handgun to carry for protection and in defense of his home. Despite this, McDonald was unable to purchase a handgun because of Chicago’s banning of handguns in 1982. Subsequently, in …show more content…

The crucial question regarding this topic is whether or not the second amendment is appropriate “to the states and their political subdivisions.” When McDonald took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, on June 28, 2010, they ruled a 5-4 decision vote for Otis McDonald citing that it should be selectively incorporate as applicable to the states through the fourteenth amendment—the due process of law clause. This meaning the fourteenth amendment and selective incorporation protects American citizens from the states restricting their rights or life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Court suggested that an individual has the right to obtain and carry a handgun or other firearms for self-defense and other lawful purposes being that it is an American fundamental for our country’s “scheme of ordered liberty and system of

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