Controversial gun law is now a target

Conrad Wilson and Kevin Diaz

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Conrad Wilson and Kevin Diaz, Star Tribune

More than half of Minnesota's congressional delegation has weighed in on a U.S. Supreme Court case that could once and for all define the Second Amendment as guaranteeing a personal right to own firearms.

A friend-of-the-court brief filed Friday urged the justices to rule against a hotly debated District of Columbia gun ban, widely considered the strictest in the country.

In an indication of the intense political crossfire over guns, the brief was signed by a bipartisan majority of 55 senators and 250 House members, including Sen. Norm Coleman and five of Minnesota's eight House members.

"This is the most significant Second Amendment case to face the Supreme Court in decades," Coleman said. "Gun ownership is a fundamental right, whether you live in Washington, D.C., or Wadena."