Washington May Lead the Way for U.S. Supreme Court Decision

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to make a critical decision on the Second Amendment this term. This week the court will hear the oral arguments of McDonald v. Chicago. The decision will apply to all states, but the Supreme Court of Washington State recently made a similar decision for its citizens. In mid-February, the court ruled on State v. Sieyes, stating that an individual’s right to bear arms, guaranteed by the Second Amendment, applies to states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Pacific Legal Foundation gives a wonderful summary of the case and how the Court reached its conclusion here. The Sieyes ruling only applies to the state of Washington, but hopefully this is an indication of how the U.S. Supreme Court may reach a conclusion which would protect a citizen’s liberty and freedom.

Karla Kay Edwards is Rural Policy Analyst at Cascade Policy Institute.