Yesterday, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear a case challenging state and local gun control laws’ constitutionality.

According to precedent, the Second Amendment applies only to the federal government. States and municipalities can do just about anything they like to restrict gun ownership. The law in question is a Chicago ban on handguns.

Most of the protections of the Bill of Rights that were originally intended to just cover the federal government have been applied to state and local governments since the 14th Amendment “incorporated” them. For some reason, the right to bear arms has never received the same status.

The Supreme Court should rectify this inconsistency. Regardless of the justices’ personal feelings on gun control, the Constitution is very clear about the right to bear arms. Like so many things, gun ownership should be regulated and reasonably restricted. But our founders considered it a right as fundamental as those of free speech, trial by jury, and due process. The court should afford the Second Amendment the same respect it has given so many others.