FACTBOX: Capital's strict gun-control law
(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, for the first time in the country's history, that individual Americans have the right to own guns for personal use, and struck down a strict gun control law in the U.S. capital, Washington.
Following are some facts about the case.
* It marks the first time in nearly 70 years that the Supreme Court has taken up the meaning of the Second Amendment, the portion of the U.S. Constitution that addresses an individual's right to bear arms.
* The Supreme Court's previous review of the Second Amendment came in a five-page discussion in an opinion issued in 1939 that failed to definitively resolve the constitutional issue.
* At issue was the city's strict gun-control law -- a ban on private possession of handguns and requirement that any rifles or shotguns kept at home be unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock.
* The court's ruling could have a far-reaching impact on gun-control laws in the United States, which is estimated to have the world's highest civilian gun ownership rate. The ruling could become an issue in the November presidential election.
* During oral arguments in March, Justice Stephen Breyer cited statistics that between 80,000 and 100,000 people in the United States every year are killed or wounded in gun-related homicides or crimes, accidents or suicides. He said that in Washington, D.C., the number totals around 200 to 300 dead and between 1,500 to 2,000 people wounded.
* The arguments followed a string of mass shootings in the previous year -- multiple killings on at least three college campuses, two shopping centers and one Missouri town meeting.
* The case divided the Bush administration. Then-Solicitor General Paul Clement, the administration's lawyer before the Supreme Court, said individuals have a right to own a gun, but it is subject to reasonable government regulation. Vice President Dick Cheney joined a group of U.S. House of Representatives and Senate members in urging a stronger stand in favor of gun rights.
(Writing by James Vicini and Paul Grant, editing by Patricia Zengerle)
