Second Amendment, Gun Control | featured news

The United States Supreme Court has declined to take up the hottest question about gun rights now dividing the nation's courts: is there a constitutional right to carry a gun outside the home? The justices today passed up a challenge brought by five residents of New York's Westchester County to a state law that forbids carrying a gun unless a person desiring to do so can show "proper cause" -- some special need for protection that goes beyond a general desire for self-defense. Those who can demonstrate that need can be granted a license to carry a firearm. The federal appeals courts are split on whether the Second Amendment provides a right to carry a gun in public.

Hundreds of gun owners and Second Amendment advocates rallied in state capitals nationwide Saturday, days after President Barack Obama unveiled a sweeping package of federal gun-control proposals.

Don't expect President Barack Obama or Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to talk about the issue of gun control in the wake of last week's deadly mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado -- there's little to gain from bringing up the issue.