McDonald v. Chicago

McDonald v. City of Chicago Is banning firearms unconstitutional? Since the beginning of the writing of the constitution, the question of the whether or not the right to firearms could be taken away. Otis McDonald in the case of McDonald v. City of Chicago argued that the states could not infringe on the right to firearms, the right to the Second Amendment to be specific. While war and invasion are no longer a daily worry, guns offer protection against common crime and dangerous situations, such as burglaries, robberies, or various other crimes. Many have different views on how strict the gun policies, whether it be a ban on open and concealed carrying or a ban on guns all together. What is the Second Amendment? The Second Amendment was originally introduced to reduce chances of tyranny and unfair rulership, giving the citizens more rights. It also allowed farmers to now hunt for their food, further increasing the economy for farmers, but the main goal in the first stages was to provid

  McDonald v. City of Chicago Are Firearms Fundamental for Our Protection? While maybe believe Otis McDonald was very courageous in his battle of McDonald v. City of Chicago, was his message true? While McDonald argued he could no longer protect his family without being able to legally own a firearm, is that the case? Many countries have strict policies gun control, and some believe the U.S. should take part in creating stricter policies. Some states are now introducing and/or signing bills that are creating stricter gun policies. Today I will be looking into the states that are creating these new policies, how they’ve affected the state’s crime, and how other countries with stricter policies crime rates compared to countries with very few restrictions on gun control. Gun Control Inside the United States The question of whether or not the United States should adopt stricter gun policies remains controversial, however some states have enacted bills and laws to create stricter firearm po

   McDonald v. City of Chicago Who was Otis McDonald? Otis McDonald was born in 1933 to Louisiana sharecroppers. After serving time in the army, McDonald moved to Chicago when he was 17 as part of the Great Migration of Blacks (a relocation of over six million Black Americans from Southern states to Northern, Midwestern, and Western states). As time passed, McDonald began working as a janitor at the University of Chicago. Having left school at 14, McDonald never earned his high school diploma, but after working his way from a janitor, he eventually became the maintenance engineer at the University of Chicago, where he retired in 1996 at age 63. McDonald returned to school while working at the University and earned his associate degree from Kennedy-King College. McDonald soon had a wife, Laura, and family, and he would eventually become a grandfather. Why did McDonald believe in gun rights? Being an army veteran and hunter, McDonald was quite familiar with firearms. McDonald lived in th

 McDonald v. City of Chicago What was the McDonald v. City of Chicago case? How did it begin?      In 1982, Chicago passed a ban on all handguns in an attempt to reduce gun violence. However, this ended in complete failure. The ban prohibited all city residents from owning a handgun, even inside their home, and required all existing handgun owners to re-register it every year. Being the first to enact a full ban on handguns, more bans were passed in other suburban cities including Evanston, Illinois and Oak Park, Illinois. These bans outraged many citizens and resulted in an increase of gun violence. This led to the question of whether or not the bans were constitutional.           The case itself arose in 2008, when Otis McDonald, who will be looked into further in future posts, challenged the ban. McDonald believed that the right to own firearms is protected within the Second Amendment, therefore declaring Chicago’s ban unconstitutional. However, Chicago argued that the Second Amendm