Court shoots down D.C. gun ban

After the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a historic ruling regarding the Second Amendment right to bear arms, local legal experts say the potential legal impact in Utah has yet to be understood; specifically, how the ruling will impact the state's requirement to allow guns on university campuses.

In its first ruling on the Second Amendment since its ratification in 1791, the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling struck down the District of Columbia's ban on handguns, stating individuals do have a constitutional right to own guns. However, the flip side of the high court's majority opinion, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, states that right is not absolute and the government has a right to license and regulate firearms.

Exactly how is the big unknown.

"This is a big deal," said attorney Troy Booher with the law firm of Snell & Wilmer. Booher, a constitutional law expert, said Thursday's historic ruling is a "mixed bag" for gun rights advocates.

"We know at least that the government can regulate, but we don't know what regulations are appropriate," Booher said. "The majority opinion does say that states are allowed to require a license as long as those requirements aren't arbitrary."

The open language in Scalia's opinion was criticized by dissenting justices, who felt the ruling passed the job of working out regulatory details to the lower courts across the country.

A big legal question is how the ruling will impact the right to carry firearms in certain venues, such as university campuses.

For decades, the University of Utah enforced a ban on guns on campus. In 2004 the Utah Legislature passed a law that forced university officials to lift the ban. That law was upheld by the Utah Supreme Court, which ruled that the school was subject to the will of the Legislature and has to follow the law of allowing concealed weapons on state property.

"Obviously we won't know the real impact until we see how the U.S. Supreme Court's decision is treated by lower courts," said assistant Utah attorney general Brent Burnett, who represented the state in the U.'s gun ban legal fight. "The impact probably will not be significant in Utah because the individual's right to bear arms is in the state's constitution."

Burnett said the ruling is not expected to change existing gun regulations already on the books, such as age limits, limits on assault-type weapons and laws prohibiting felons from possessing guns.