And we do in fact have a constitutional right to own guns for self-defense and hunting. From the Associated Press via Yahoo,

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices’ first major pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history. The court’s 5-4 ruling struck down the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with gun rights under the Second Amendment.

As you might remember, our Second Amendment Project director Dave Kopel sat at the respondent’s table during the historic Supreme Court case. Thanks to Complete Colorado, I’ve got the audio from David’s air time on KOA this morning where likened the magnitude of the decision to the climax of the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, recounted his experience sitting in the nation’s highest court, and presented his take on what this means for second amendment challenges in the future. Lawyers dream of being asked to sit in the Supreme Court, and not only did Dave get a chance to do that during a massively historic case, but his advice and brief helped propel the court’s decision. We are extremely proud of him.

Some more documents to whet your Supreme Court victory appetite:
The court’s opinion can be found on SCOTUS here,
the SCOTUS wiki DC v. Heller page is a wealth of information,
the Independence Institute press release,
David’s podcast with me after his Washington DC visit,
the amicus brief that helped shape the court’s decision,
and finally Dave’s blogging partner on the Volokh Conspiracy, Eugene Volokh’s take on the decision.

Update: I just got an email from David and he said that in Justice Stephen Breyer’s dissenting opinion (which can be found starting on page 68 of the .pdf of the court’s opinion, he cited our amicus brief four times!

Update part deux: (I have a feeling there are going to be a few more updates as things keep coming in). David wrote a piece this morning that is now featured on Pajamas Media.

Update, part 3:The Rocky Mountain News cover picture has a fantastic protest sign that reads, “If guns kill people… do pens misspell words?” Brilliant.

Update, part 4: Dave and I just went into the studio to do a podcast about the decision. Go here to get the inside scoop from our resident gun rights expert.

Update, part 5: As a testament to Dave’s due diligence and intellectual prowess, Randy Barnett wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal praising Dave’s scholarship. Here’s the excerpt,

Good legal scholarship was absolutely crucial to this outcome. No justice is capable of producing the historical research and analysis upon which Justice Scalia relied. Brilliant as it was in its execution, his opinion rested on the work of many scholars of the Second Amendment, as I am sure he would be the first to acknowledge… Due to the political orthodoxy among most constitutional law professors, some of the most important and earliest of this scholarship was produced by nonacademics like Don Kates, Stephen Halbrook, David Kopel, Clayton Cramer and others.

Update, part 6: David’s articles for HumanEvents.com and Reason.com have just gone live. Check them out!