Washington, DC- Congresswoman Kay Granger (TX-12) today signed an amicus curiae brief supporting the Second Amendment for the U.S. Supreme Court case McDonald v. City of Chicago.
“By signing this brief, my colleagues and I are reiterating our support for the existing rights we, as Americans, hold to be sacred, and reminding the Supreme Court of those rights,” Granger said. “The Second Amendment applies to all Americans. The government should respect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens throughout our country, regardless of where they live."
An amicus curiae or “friend of the court” brief can be offered by a party, not directly involved in the case, on a point of law to assist the court in deciding a matter before it. It is ultimately up to the court to decide whether to admit the information in the amicus brief. The city of Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation and this case will have major implications for the legality of restrictive gun laws in other cities and states across the country. Rep. Granger signed an amicus brief in District of Columbia v. Heller in support of the Court upholding the Second Amendment as a fundamental, individual right. The decision in the Heller case upheld Second Amendment rights.
The amicus brief for McDonald v. City of Chicago points the Supreme Court Justices to the text of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which says: “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”