{"id":54776,"date":"2020-10-21T10:44:21","date_gmt":"2020-10-21T15:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/supreme\/supreme-court-insights\/mcdonald-v-city-of-chicago-case-summary.html"},"modified":"2020-10-21T10:44:21","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T15:44:21","slug":"mcdonald-v-city-of-chicago-case-summary","status":"publish","type":"supreme","link":"https:\/\/supreme.findlaw.com\/supreme-court-insights\/mcdonald-v-city-of-chicago-case-summary.html","title":{"rendered":"McDonald v. City of Chicago Case Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7  fl-block-columns fl-sectionWithSidebar fl-container fl-flex fl-flex-wrap fl-gap30\">\n    \n    <div class=\"fl-page-articles   fl-block-column fl-section-main fl-section-main-full-width\">\n        <h1 class=\"fl-no-margin-top\">McDonald v. City of Chicago Case Summary<\/h1>\n<section class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline\">\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-content\">\n                    By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/laura-temme-esq\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Laura Temme, Esq.<\/a> | Legally reviewed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/joseph-fawbush-esq\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Joseph Fawbush, Esq.<\/a>\n                | Last reviewed\n        <time>\n                            October 21, 2020\n                    <\/time>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n    <details class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-legally-reviewed\">\n        <summary>\n            <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n            Legally Reviewed\n        <\/summary>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/company-history\/editorial-policy.html\" rel=\"noopener\">our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/details>\n\n    <details class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-fast-checked\">\n        <summary>\n            <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n            Fact-Checked\n        <\/summary>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/contributing-authors.html\" rel=\"noopener\">contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/?fli=bylinelink\" rel=\"noopener\">contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/details>\n<\/section>\n    <div class=\"fl-callout-text article-blockquote\">\n        <p>Although the Second Amendment is one of the most discussed parts of the Constitution, there are relatively few Supreme Court cases that address it. The most notable is <i>McDonald v. City of Chicago<\/i>, which held that there is an individual right to bear arms under the Second Amendment.<\/p>\n\n    <\/div>\n\n<p>In 2010, the Supreme Court was asked to determine the scope of gun rights for individuals under the Second Amendment. They found that an individual&#8217;s Second Amendment rights are enforceable against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. In other words, they determined that &#8220;the right of the people to keep and bear arms&#8221; applied to individuals and not just citizen militias. Most importantly, the court concluded that these protections were enforceable against state governments, not just the federal government.<\/p>\r\n<p>Jump to:<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><a href=\"#background\">Background of McDonald v. City of Chicago<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"#majority\">The Majority Opinion<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"#incorporation\">What Is Selective Incorporation?<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"#dissents\">Dissents<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2 id=\"background\">Background of McDonald v. City of Chicago<\/h2>\r\n<p>In 1982, the city of Chicago passed a law that banned new handgun registrations and required all firearms to be registered. The law effectively barred most private citizens from owning handguns. It stood for nearly thirty years until a new Supreme Court finding opened the door for a challenge. Essentially, the decision in\u00a0<i>McDonald v. City of Chicago<\/i>\u00a0would not have happened without<i>\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/caselaw.findlaw.com\/court\/us-supreme-court\/554\/570.html\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><i>District of Columbia v. Heller<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<p>When deciding\u00a0<i>District of Columbia v. Heller<\/i>\u00a0in 2008, the Supreme Court found that the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.findlaw.com\/amendment2.html\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Second Amendment<\/a>\u00a0protected individuals&#8217; right to possess and carry weapons. Specifically, the court&#8217;s decision\u00a0established that:<\/p>\r\n<p>&#8220;The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.&#8221;<\/p>\r\n<p>The\u00a0<i>Heller<\/i>\u00a0decision struck down a District of Columbia law prohibiting residents from possessing firearms, including handguns, in their homes. Anticipating this result, the plaintiffs in\u00a0<i>McDonald<\/i>\u00a0<i>v. City of Chicago<\/i>\u00a0filed their lawsuit the same day the\u00a0<i>Heller<\/i>\u00a0decision was announced. They alleged that Chicago&#8217;s firearm law violated this individual right to bear arms.<\/p>\r\n<p>The named plaintiff, Otis McDonald, was a 76-year-old Oak Park resident and retired maintenance engineer. He was an experienced hunter and legally owned several hunting rifles, but he felt growing concerns about safety in his neighborhood warranted owning a handgun. However, doing so was illegal under Chicago&#8217;s gun ordinance.<\/p>\r\n<p>The federal district court rejected McDonald&#8217;s claims that the ban was unconstitutional, noting that prior Supreme Court cases had explicitly refrained from deciding whether the Second Amendment applied to the states. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision, relying on three 19th-century cases that interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment&#8217;s privileges and immunities clause.<\/p>\r\n<p>The Supreme Court had already decided in\u00a0<i>Heller\u00a0<\/i>that the federal government could not infringe on an individual&#8217;s right to keep and bear arms. So the crucial question in\u00a0<i>McDonald<\/i>\u00a0v. Chicago was: Does the Second Amendment apply to state and local governments?<\/p>\r\n<h2 id=\"majority\">The Majority Opinion<\/h2>\r\n<p>The\u00a0<i>McDonald<\/i>\u00a0decision was a close one, with a 5-4 majority. Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.findlaw.com\/supreme_court\/justices\/alito.html\" target=\"_self\">Samuel Alito, Jr.<\/a> wrote the majority opinion and was joined by <a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.findlaw.com\/supreme_court\/justices\/roberts.html\" target=\"_self\">Chief Justice John Roberts<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.findlaw.com\/supreme_court\/justices\/kennedy.html\" target=\"_self\">Justice Anthony Kennedy<\/a>. Justices\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.findlaw.com\/supreme_court\/justices\/scalia.html\" target=\"_self\">Antonin Scalia<\/a> and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.findlaw.com\/supreme_court\/justices\/thomas.html\" target=\"_self\">Clarence Thomas<\/a> wrote their own concurring opinions.<\/p>\r\n<p>In previous cases, the Supreme Court declined to extend Second Amendment protections to the states. However, the majority in\u00a0<i>McDonald v. Chicago\u00a0<\/i>concluded that the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.findlaw.com\/amendment14.html\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Fourteenth Amendment<\/a>\u00a0incorporates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. This line of reasoning relies on the legal doctrine of &#8220;selective incorporation,&#8221; discussed below.<\/p>\r\n<p>Interestingly, the court had to reject the plaintiff&#8217;s central argument &#8211; that an individual&#8217;s right to bear arms is essential to a civilized legal system &#8211; because prior Supreme Court cases reached the opposite conclusion. Instead, Justice Alito reasoned that the Fourteenth Amendment&#8217;s due process clause prohibits states from infringing on protections from the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.findlaw.com\/bill-of-rights.html\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Bill of Rights<\/a>, including the right to bear arms.<\/p>\r\n<p>The right of individuals to keep and bear arms for self-defense, the majority reasoned, was essential to the American &#8220;scheme of ordered liberty and system of justice.&#8221; Therefore, Chicago&#8217;s handgun ban was unconstitutional.<\/p>\r\n<p>&#8220;The right to bear arms must be regarded as a substantive guarantee,&#8221; Justice Alito wrote, &#8220;not a prohibition that could be ignored so long as the States legislated in an evenhanded manner.&#8221;<\/p>\r\n<p>However, the Supreme Court acknowledged in\u00a0<i>Heller<\/i>\u00a0that an individual&#8217;s right to bear arms has its limits. It doesn&#8217;t necessarily give someone the right to keep and carry any weapon they choose for any purpose. It was easy for the majority to rationalize an individual owning a handgun for self-defense, but they conceded that certain individuals should not own firearms. States can also still limit where guns can be carried. Bans on weapons in schools and government buildings, for example, are allowed.<\/p>\r\n<h2 id=\"incorporation\">What Is Selective Incorporation?<\/h2>\r\n<p>The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, also known as <a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.findlaw.com\/bill-of-rights.html\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">the Bill of Rights<\/a>, originally only applied to the federal government. Selective incorporation is a legal doctrine the Supreme Court has used to apply those protections to state governments. They do this using the <a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.findlaw.com\/amendment14.html\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Fourteenth Amendment<\/a>, which prohibits states from denying life, liberty, or property without due process of law.<\/p>\r\n<p>The Supreme Court uses selective incorporation to apply certain constitutional protections to the states rather than whole amendments. At this point, selective incorporation has been used to extend nearly the entire Bill of Rights to actions by state governments.<\/p>\r\n<h2 id=\"dissents\">Dissents<\/h2>\r\n<p>Justices <a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.findlaw.com\/supreme_court\/justices\/ginsburg.html\" target=\"_self\">Ruth Bader Ginsburg<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.findlaw.com\/supreme_court\/justices\/breyer.html\" target=\"_self\">Stephen Breyer<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.findlaw.com\/supreme_court\/justices\/sotomayor.html\" target=\"_self\">Sonia Sotomayor<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.findlaw.com\/supreme_court\/justices\/stevens.html\" target=\"_self\">John Paul Stevens<\/a> dissented. Justices Breyer and Stevens wrote separate opinions to outline their arguments against the majority&#8217;s decision.<\/p>\r\n<p>In his dissent, Justice Breyer argued that historical analysis in\u00a0<i>Heller\u00a0<\/i>was flawed, saying that it was unclear whether the writers of the Constitution intended for there to be a &#8220;private armed self-defense right.&#8221; Instead, he proposed that the Supreme Court should consider the broader goals of the Constitution, such as:<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Fostering equal respect for individuals<\/li>\r\n<li>Maintaining a democratic form of government<\/li>\r\n<li>Creating well-functioning institutions based on the separation of powers<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>Justice Breyer concluded, and Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor agreed that the states would not have to recognize an individual right to bear arms under this framework.<\/p>\r\n<p>Justice John Paul Stevens filed his own dissent on his very last day as a Supreme Court justice, arguing that the majority misunderstood the scope and purpose of the standards used in previous cases. Using a strictly historical approach to determine whether the Fourteenth Amendment incorporated gun rights, in his view, was untenable.<\/p>\r\n<p>&#8220;The question we should be answering,&#8221; he wrote, &#8220;is whether the Constitution guarantees individuals a fundamental right, enforceable against the States, to possess a functional, personal firearm, including a handgun, within the home.&#8221;<\/p>\r\n<p>This would be a much harder question to answer. But according to Justice Stevens, the problem of whether the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment had been resolved in the 19th century. The way he saw it, the majority was overturning 137 years of precedent by deciding that the privileges and immunities clause included protecting gun rights from infringement by state governments.<\/p>\r\n<p>Visit FindLaw&#8217;s Cases &amp; Codes to read the Supreme Court&#8217;s full decision in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/caselaw.findlaw.com\/court\/us-supreme-court\/08-1521.html\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><i>McDonald v. City of Chicago<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"was-this-helpful\">\n    <div\n            class=\"was-this-helpful__question-container\"\n            aria-labelledby=\"was-this-helpful__question\"\n            role=\"group\"\n    >\n        <span\n                id=\"was-this-helpful__question\"\n                class=\"was-this-helpful__question fl-text-lg-bold\"\n        >Was this helpful?<\/span>\n        <button\n                class=\"was-this-helpful__button fl-text-sm\"\n                aria-label=\"Yes\"\n                value=\"yes\"\n        >\n            <span class=\"was-this-helpful__button-text fl-text-bold\">Yes<\/span>\n            <i class=\"was-this-helpful__button-icon\">\n                <svg width=\"22\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 22 22\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n                    <g id=\"thumbs-up\" clip-path=\"url(#clip0_604_3418)\">\n                        <path id=\"Vector\"\n                              d=\"M6 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2.22309 2.72003 2.7L1.34003 11.7C1.29652 11.9866 1.31586 12.2793 1.39669 12.5577C1.47753 12.8362 1.61793 13.0937 1.80817 13.3125C1.99842 13.5313 2.23395 13.7061 2.49846 13.8248C2.76297 13.9435 3.05012 14.0033 3.34003 14H9.00003Z\"\n                              stroke=\"#666666\" stroke-width=\"2\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\"\/>\n                    <\/g>\n                    <defs>\n                        <clipPath id=\"clip0_604_3423\">\n                            <rect width=\"22\" height=\"22\" fill=\"white\"\/>\n                        <\/clipPath>\n                    <\/defs>\n                <\/svg>\n            <\/i>\n        <\/button>\n    <\/div>\n    <span class=\"was-this-helpful__taken-action fl-text-sm-bold\"><\/span>\n    <div class=\"was-this-helpful__feedback-container\">\n        <div class=\"was-this-helpful__choose-option-message\" role=\"status\">\n            <p class=\"was-this-helpful__choose-option-message-text\"><\/p>\n        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