Idaho’s congressional delegation is praising a U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday bolstering 2nd Amendment rights to own guns. Judges ruled in the case, stemming from a gun ownership ban in Chicago, that people have a fundamental right to have a gun in their home for self-protection. The decision doesn’t overturn the Chicago ban, but continues the current Supreme Court’s pattern of protecting gun ownership rights from local government regulations.
“Today is another great day for supporters of the 2nd Amendment,” Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson said in a news release. “Just like 2008 when the Court ruled that Washington, D.C.’s gun ban was unconstitutional, they have knocked down Chicago’s similar law.” Simpson said he thinks the decision will lead courts to undo more gun bans across the country. “I am encouraged by this decision, and hope to see it used to overturn restrictive and unfair gun bans in many cities across the country.”
All four of Idaho’s members of Congress signed a legal document urging the court to protect gun owners. “I am proud to have joined with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to demand and work toward better protection of the 2nd Amendment rights that Idahoans hold so dear,” said Rep. Walt Minnick in a news release. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter also gave the Supreme Court kudos on Twitter.
“These are significant court rulings that should remind those who seek to restrict the 2nd Amendment that the framers of the Constitution made it clear about the rights of an American citizen to own firearms—those rights are not to be abridged,” said Sen. Mike Crapo in a news release.
Crapo also said that the recent decision should play a part in the confirmation hearings for Solicitor General Elena Kagan, who President Barack Obama tapped to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Stevens was in the minority of Monday’s 5-4 decision on gun rights, and Crapo wants to make sure he knows Kagan’s stance. “It is imperative that the Senate do its due diligence on Kagan’s position regarding the right to keep and bear arms,” he said.
Hearings on Kagan’s nomination start next week, though neither Crapo or Sen. Jim Risch are on the committee that will ask her questions. Both Crapo and Risch voted against Kagan when she was nominated for the job of solicitor general.
