Dallas, PA – In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court recognized the guaranteed right of individuals to own handguns for self-defense and hunting. This ruling struck down a Washington D.C. law that stated handguns were not consistent with the rights stated in the Second Amendment. The court has not handled Second Amendments rights since 1939, in the case of the U.S. v. Miller, which involved a sawed-off shotgun.

Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the majority decision that the Constitution does not allow “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home,” and that “This meaning is strongly confirmed by the historical background of the Second Amendment.”

Republican Congressional Candidate Chris Hackett stated, “Today, the right of citizens to keep and bear arms was recognized and preserved with the recent Supreme Court ruling. This ruling protects the individual freedoms guaranteed in the Second Amendment, which for 32 years has been denied to Washington, D.C residents. The Court has kept laws intact that are meant to protect citizens from unnecessary gun violence, but also guaranteed the individual rights that are explicitly written in our Constitution.”

“Law abiding citizens in D.C. had their individual rights reinstated today. This historic decision will hopefully become a precedent for future Supreme Court Rulings in preserving individual freedoms and ensuring individual rights. Today, the Court demonstrated the importance of liberty.”

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