JURIST - Hotline: <u>Heller</u> decision puts to rest slippery slope argument regarding gun control laws

Paul Helmke [President, The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence]: "Over the years, I have seen the gun lobby effectively thwart efforts to pass many sensible gun laws by arguing that even modest gun control would lead down the path to a complete ban on gun ownership. It is the classic "slippery slope" argument, and it has served the gun lobby well politically.

The "slippery slope," however, is now gone. The U.S. Supreme Court took it off the table in their D.C. v. Heller opinion. Government is now barred from "taking away" the guns of law-abiding Americans. While the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the District’s ban on handguns, they also made it clear that the Constitution allows for reasonable restrictions on access to firearms.

As Justice Scalia said, "the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited." When the dust settles, most Americans – and I believe even most in the gun violence prevention movement – will come to see that there are some positives in this decision. Elected officials will no longer be able to use a mistaken, absolutist misreading of the Second Amendment as an excuse to do nothing about gun violence in our country. Politicians can’t hide behind the Second Amendment anymore."