For the first time in history, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a definitive ruling on the right of Americans to own guns. A five-to-four majority of the court ruled that individual citizens have the right to own firearms, and in the process it struck down a 32-year-old ban on handguns in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C.
美国最高法院有史以来第一次就美国人拥有枪支的权利作出明确裁决。最高法院以五比四的多数裁定公民个人有权拥有枪支，这一司法程序推翻了在美国首都华盛顿实行了32年的禁止拥有手枪的禁令。
Writing for the five-member court majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does protect the rights of individuals to own firearms for personal use.
最高法院大法官斯卡利亚按照五人多数意见所写的裁决书说，对美国宪法第二修正案的确保护私人为了个人用途而拥有枪支的权利。
Legal scholars have long debated whether the Second Amendment guaranteed the right of individuals to possess firearms, or if it merely applied to state militias.
法律专家长期以来一直在辩论宪法第二修正案到底是保证个人拥有枪支的权利，还是仅仅适用于各州的民兵。
Attorney Alan Gura says the high court's historic ruling makes it clear that individuals do have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Gura represented a Washington, D.C. resident who wanted the city's 32-year-old ban on handguns struck down.
律师埃伦.古拉说，美国最高法院的历史性裁决明确表示，个人的确有宪法权利保存并携带枪支。古拉代表一名华盛顿市民要求华盛顿市取消实施了32年的禁止拥有手枪的禁令。
"People do have an individual right to keep and bear arms, that is very important to remember. That means that the government cannot ban handguns, it cannot regulate guns out of existence. We feel today is a fantastic day for liberty once again," Gura said.
他说：“人民的确有权保存并携带枪支，记住这一点非常重要。这意味着政府不能禁止人们拥有手枪，政府不能规定让枪支消失。我们觉得今天是重获这一自由的美好日子。”
Gura represented security guard Dick Heller. Heller lives in a high-crime section of Washington and challenged the city's handgun ban so he could defend himself.
古拉代表的是保安人员迪克.赫勒。赫勒住在华盛顿市一个高犯罪率的地区，他出于保护自己的目的而质疑华盛顿的枪支禁令。
"I am very pleased to have been able to take this case, with help from my attorneys, all the way to the highest court in the land. And I am very happy that now I am able to defend myself and my household in my own home," Heller said.
他说：“我非常高兴能在我的律师的帮助下把这个案子一直打到最高法院，而且我十分欣慰如今我能够在我自己的家中保卫自己和我的家了。”
Among those welcoming the high court's decision was President Bush. The White House issued a statement saying the president strongly agrees with the court's majority opinion.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain also praised the decision as a landmark victory for freedom in the United States.
Democratic candidate Barack Obama issued a statement that said the court decision will provide guidance to local communities trying to balance the rights of gun owners with the need to protect citizens in high crime areas of the country.
The four Supreme Court justices in the minority who wanted to uphold the handgun ban argued that striking down the Washington, D.C. law would open up other gun control statutes to constitutional challenges.
在最高法院这次裁决中占少数的四位大法官想维持手枪禁令，他们争辩说，推翻华盛顿市的这条法令会为其它控制枪支管制法律同样受到宪法的挑战打开方便之门。
Gun control advocates were disappointed but not surprised by the Supreme Court ruling.
主张控制枪支的人感到失望，但是他们对最高法院的裁决并不感到惊讶。
'We are obviously disappointed and disagree with the majority opinion. This takes off the idea that you can have a near total ban on guns, especially guns for self-defense,' said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence.
保尔.赫姆基是布雷迪防止枪支暴行运动组织的主席。他说：“我们显然感到失望，而且并不同意最高法院多数派法官的意见。这个意见打消了几乎能全面禁止枪支的想法，特别是禁止用于自卫的枪支。”
But Helmke noted that in his majority opinion, Justice Scalia said that although the court recognizes an individual right to bear arms, that right is not unlimited.
但是，赫姆基指出，斯卡利亚法官在陈述多数派法官意见时说，虽然最高法院承认携带枪支的个人权利，然而这一权利不是无限的。
"It is clear that what the court did today was that they limited the extremes. They said that you can no longer have near total prohibitions on guns, but they also said you can have reasonable restrictions on guns," he said.
他说：“很清楚，最高法院今天采取的行动是限制极端行为。他们说，不能再几乎全面禁止枪支，但是他们又说，可以合理地限制枪支。”
In his opinion, Scalia said the ruling should not be used to cast doubt on existing gun control laws that keep guns out of the hands of convicted criminals and the mentally ill, and prevent weapons from being carried into schools and government buildings.
按照赫姆基的想法，斯卡利亚法官表示，这次裁决不能用来质疑现有的枪支控制法律，即不准被定罪的罪犯及精神病患者拥有枪支，也不准把武器带进学校及政府办公地点。
Gura says Thursday's Supreme Court decision will have far-reaching legal ramifications for government attempts to enact new gun control measures.
"We are not going to see the end of instant background checks. We are not going to see the end of the ban on felons or lunatics having guns. But, when the government regulates guns, it has to remember that it is potentially stepping on an important individual right and it is going to be made to respect that right," he said
The high court last took up the issue of the Second Amendment and gun ownership in 1939, but legal scholars say the court at that time did not directly settle the question of whether individual citizens have a right to bear arms.
美国最高法院上一次受理宪法第二修正案以及拥有枪支问题是在1939年，但是，法律专家说，当时最高法院没有直截了当地解决公民个人是否有权携带武器的问题。 |