Supreme Court May Be Forced to Rule on Americans' Right to Carry Concealed Weapons

In the latest twist and turn to take place on the issue of gun control in the nation, the U.S. Supreme Court may decide to hear a case that could make it illegal to carry a concealed weapon.

This comes after a Federal Appeals Court in Illinois decided that a person's right to carry a concealed weapon is not protected under the Second Amendment. Colorado, however, recently refused to reconsider a previous ruling that the state's ban on concealed carrying is unconstitutional. Because of the contradiction, it's predicted that the country's highest court will be forced to rule on the constitutionality of it once and for all.

In the Illinois case, Peterson v. Martinez, the court said in its ruling, "In light of our nation’s extensive practice of restricting citizens’ freedom to carry firearms in a concealed manner, we hold that this activity does not fall within the scope of the Second Amendment’s protection."

However, in Colorado's Moore v. Madison, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals said, "The right to ‘bear’ as distinct from the right to ‘keep’ arms is unlikely to refer to the home. To speak of ‘bearing’ arms within one’s home would at all times have been an awkward usage. A right to bear arms thus implies a right to carry a loaded gun outside the home."

While the court has ruled that the Second Amendment does protect the right to own guns, and that state and local guns should recognize that right, they haven’t yet ruled on carrying outside the home. An estimated eight million Americans have concealed weapons permits.