Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

A Freedom Fighter to Never Forget: Otis McDonald (1933-2014)

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

 

History books are written by the winners and, if we’re successful at protecting the right to keep and bear arms for future generations, the civil rights chapters of the history books that future generations will read will tell the story of Otis McDonald. The longtime Chicago resident, who passed away in April, was the lead plaintiff in McDonald v. City of Chicago, one of the most important Second Amendment cases ever decided by the Supreme Court.

McDonald, born to Louisiana sharecroppers in 1933, was an Army veteran, a father of eight and a grandfather. He didn’t finish high school, but he worked hard, earned a college degree and retired after a 32-year career at the University of Chicago. As an African-American climbing the professional ladder in the University’s building engineering department, he learned the value of perseverance.

That lesson paid dividends in McDonald’s legal battle against the Chicago political machine’s decades-long suppression of the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear handguns for protection. McDonald filed his challenge to Chicago’s handgun ban in 2008, after the Supreme Court issued its decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which struck down the District’s handgun ban and its ban on having a firearm assembled into functional condition within the home.

The Heller decision also prohibited Congress and federal territories from imposing laws like those it overturned in the District. However, it didn’t apply to gun control laws imposed by states or local jurisdictions within them. The decision benefitted the half million residents of the nation’s capital, but McDonald and other residents of his neighborhood were still helpless against robbers, home invaders and other lowlifes that were preying on good Americans who had been rendered defenseless by a law that gun control supporters had tried to get imposed nationwide.

McDonald edged closer to action as his once-peaceful South Chicago neighborhood began to deteriorate at the hands of drug dealers, burglars and street thugs. He made his decision to challenge Chicago’s handgun ban after three punks blocked his car and threatened him. “I was not going to back down from a situation because of fear. …
I’m not built like that,” he said.

McDonald understood the heavy price of freedom, and he knew that Chicago’s handgun ban amounted to a modern-day version of the 18th and 19th centuries’ “slave codes” and “black codes” that prohibited African-Americans from being armed. “There was a wrong done a long time ago that dates back to slavery time,” he said. “I could feel the spirit of those people running through me as I sat in the Supreme Court.”

McDonald also knew that the Heller decision had not invented a “right to keep and bear arms” out of thin air, as claimed by gun control supporters. One of the earliest Supreme Court cases to consider the meaning of the Second Amendment had also involved African-Americans possessing firearms for protection. In U.S. v. Cruikshank, decided in 1876, the high court made clear that the Second Amendment did not create an individual right to keep and bear arms, but rather protected it against federal interference.

In 1939, in U.S. v. Miller, the Court recognized that Americans have a right to arms that have “some reasonable relationship to the preservation or
efficiency of a well regulated militia,” that are “part of the ordinary military equipment,” or that the use of which
“could contribute to the common defense.”

The Court cited both of these earlier decisions in its Heller ruling.

In McDonald v. Chicago, the Court extended the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to arms
through the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, which provides [that] ‘No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The adoption of the 14th Amendment was due in part to efforts by some states to disarm newly freed African-Americans after the Civil War. More than 140 years later, an African-American of great courage gave the nation’s highest court the opportunity to apply the 14th Amendment to advance one of its original goals, benefitting all Americans.

The greatest tribute that we could give to McDonald is to make sure that his achievement stands in perpetuity, and that the right to arms remains secure for future generations of Americans. Let that be our pledge, as Election Day 2014 nears.

TRENDING NOW
Trump Administration Revives Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Provision

News  

Friday, March 21, 2025

Trump Administration Revives Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Provision

On March 20, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published an interim final rule entitled, Withdrawing the Attorney General’s Delegation of Authority. That bland title belies the historic nature of the measure, which is aimed at reviving ...

Supreme Court Upholds ATF Rule on “Firearms,” Unfinished Receivers and Kits

News  

Monday, March 31, 2025

Supreme Court Upholds ATF Rule on “Firearms,” Unfinished Receivers and Kits

On March 26, in a 7-2 decision (with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissenting), the United States Supreme Court upheld a Biden administration gun control rule on what constitutes a “firearm” under 18 U.S.C. ...

Colorado: FOID Bill On Governor Polis' Desk, More Gun Control On the Move

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Colorado: FOID Bill On Governor Polis' Desk, More Gun Control On the Move

As the clock runs down on Governor Polis' 10-day window to veto Senate Bill 25-003, the semi-auto ban turned FOID-scheme bill, he continues to sit on his hands and let the bill gather dust on his ...

House Judiciary Committee Votes to Advance Concealed Carry Reciprocity Legislation

News  

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

House Judiciary Committee Votes to Advance Concealed Carry Reciprocity Legislation

On Tuesday, March 25, 2025, the House Judiciary Committee held a markup for several bills, including two NRA-backed bills. With this crucial step in the legislative process now complete, these pieces of legislation can now ...

Legislation Introduced to Prevent States from Taxing Guns and Ammunition

News  

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Legislation Introduced to Prevent States from Taxing Guns and Ammunition

Last week, U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) and U.S. Representatives Darrell Issa (R-CA-48) and Richard Hudson (R-NC-9) reintroduced the Freedom from Unfair Gun Taxes Act (S.1169 and H.R.2442 respectively). This legislation would prohibit states from ...

Maine: Bipartisan Coalition Deals Major Blow to Gun Control Bills in Committee

Friday, April 4, 2025

Maine: Bipartisan Coalition Deals Major Blow to Gun Control Bills in Committee

On Thursday, April 3rd, the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary held work sessions on several gun-related bills. 

Reported Israeli Gun Owner Data Leak Exposes Danger of Registries

News  

Monday, March 24, 2025

Reported Israeli Gun Owner Data Leak Exposes Danger of Registries

According to a recent report from Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Iranian-linked hackers were able to penetrate Israel’s databases containing sensitive gun owner data and leaked the information online in early February.

Oregon: Permit-to-Purchase and FFL-Killer Bills Vote Delayed in Committee

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Oregon: Permit-to-Purchase and FFL-Killer Bills Vote Delayed in Committee

Yesterday, House Bill 3075 and House Bill 3076 were scheduled for a vote in the House Judiciary Committee. During the work session, the Committee Chair announced that the vote on these bills would be delayed until today, April 3rd, or ...

Canada: A Fresh Gun Ban as Trudeau Exits

News  

Monday, March 17, 2025

Canada: A Fresh Gun Ban as Trudeau Exits

Just three months ago, Canada’s Liberal government announced that an additional 324 so-called “assault-style” firearms had been added to the list of banned guns established under then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2020.

Rep. Hinson and Sen. Cotton Reintroduce Bill to Repeal Firearm Transfer Tax

News  

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Rep. Hinson and Sen. Cotton Reintroduce Bill to Repeal Firearm Transfer Tax

On April 1, 2025, Representative Ashley Hinson (R-IA-02) and Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) reintroduced the Repealing Illegal Freedom and Liberty Excises Act, or the RIFLE Act. These bills (H.R. 2552 and S.1224 respectively) would remove a $200 excise tax that is imposed ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.