Leading gun-control advocates, such as the Brady Center, are already spinning Heller as a victory: They claim the gun-rights lobby's strength is based on stoking the public's slippery-slope fears that any gun regulation is a forerunner to a total ban. With that ban now impossible, gun-control advocates believe they'll have more ability to restrict sales, possession and carrying in ways short of prohibition.
Gun-rights advocates, for their part, are expected to use this decision to challenge Chicago's handgun ban next, attacking another important question: Does the 2nd Amendment apply to state and local or only federal laws?
The Supreme Court decision on the second amendment question affirmed the right to "keep" arms in the home but left in legal limbo the ability of states and local governments to restrict the right to "bear" arms in places other than schools, courthouses, etc. There will probably be more rulings in years to come. Meanwhile, not much has changed except in Washington, D.C.
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