Supreme Court won’t hear three Second Amendment gun cases

The United States Supreme Court decided on Monday morning to not hear three Second Amendment cases that sought to clarify the rights of people to carry handguns for self-defense purposes outside their homes.

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Without comment, the Justices denied petitions for certiorari for NRA v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms , NRA v. McCraw and Lane v. Holder. All three cases were considered in private conference on Friday.

However, there is a fourth case also heading toward a private conference, at some point, that addresses many of the same issues in the three cases denied by the Court on Monday. The case of Drake v. Jerejian is about gun control laws in New Jersey and a petition has been filed with the Court.

In NRA v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and NRA v. McCraw, the National Rifle Association wanted the Court to address the Second Amendment right to bear arms in public, including the rights of some people under the age of 21.

Lane v. Holder focused on the constitutionality of laws regulating the sale of firearms.

Since the Supreme Court issued its ruling in McDonald v. City of Chicago in 2010, it hasn’t accepted new cases about the rights of gun owners. The McDonald case extended the decision in the 2008 Heller decisions to the states.

In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Court held that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense and it struck down a District of Columbia law that banned the possession of handguns in the home.

The Court’s acceptance of any gun case would be significant, and any such case wouldn’t be heard until its next term starts in October 2014, at the earliest.

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