A 5-4 decision was reached by the United States Supreme Court today confirming the individual right to own a handgun (McDonald et al vs. City of Chicago, Illinois).

While today's ruling represents an historic victory, it was also a narrow victory. The fact that nearly half of the United States Supreme Court members do not support the fundamental right to bear arms, should give every gun owner pause. Gun owners who voted for President Obama should pay close attention since his nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, was among those who opposed gun rights for individuals.

In fact, every Democrat-appointed Justice opposed the individual rights view. This is a very clear example that the majority of the national Democrat Party also opposes the right to keep and bear arms as evidenced in their confirmation of Supreme Court Justices. If Presidents Bush, G.W. Bush, or Reagan had lost to a Democrat candidate in their election years, today's ruling would have been very different. In fact, ANY vote for a Democrat at the national level could be a vote against firearm ownership since all Justice nominees must be approved by Congress.

The upcoming election in November could have a direct impact on future Supreme Court appointees. And while everything might seem great for gun owners at election time, Supreme Court appointments are for life. Since we have no way of knowing what Second Amendment related cases might be presented in upcoming years, we cannot afford to be apathetic at the ballot box.

Remember to vote accordingly in November.

Jennifer Freeman is Executive Director and co-founder of Liberty Belles, a grass-roots organization dedicated to restoring and preserving the Second Amendment.
http://www.libertybelles.org
jennifer@libertybelles.org