Otis McDonald Vs. Chicago: The Scene Of 2010 McDonald Supreme Court Decision

Otis McDonald, lead plaintiff in the landmark gun rights case McDonald v. Chicago (2010). McDonald was a South Side Chicago grandfather who wanted a handgun to protect his family from local hoodlums and fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to vindicate his rights. Thanks to his victory, the Second Amendment now joins the First Amendment and other Bill of Rights guarantees in applying to both the federal government and to the states.



McDonald v. Chicago was a civil rights triumph in every sense of the term. At its heart, the case dealt with the original meaning of the 14th Amendment, the constitutional safeguard enacted in 1868 to wipe away the last traces of slavery, particularly the noxious "Black Codes" designed by the former Confederates to prevent the freedmen from owning property, moving freely, and keeping and bearing arms for self-defense.