Chicago Gun Ban May Test Ruling

Her mother, meanwhile, described herself as a skeptic of guns kept for self-defense, the foundation of the high court's ruling.

"People shouldn't take the law into their own hands," said Loretta Lewis, 53, noting that a Texas man was cleared of shooting to death two men he suspected were burglarizing a neighbor's home. "Innocent people usually end up getting killed -- people don't hit the person they're supposed to get."

Alderman Joe Moore acknowledges that the ban has not nearly eliminated guns, but he predicted the city's violence would grow worse if the law is overturned, as numerous scholars expect.

"Clearly, the bad guys can get guns. I think what laws like Chicago have done is made sure they've taken more guns out of the system regardless," Moore said. "I shudder at the thought of everyone packing heat."

To Gary Slutkin, executive director of CeaseFire, an anti-violence organization that operates out of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the bans in Washington and Chicago have had a limited effect on gun ownership. The desire of people to own guns is more powerful than the government's ability to stop them, he said, although he thinks easier access to firearms would lead to more shootings.

"When there is a demand for a product, whether it's legal or illegal, people get it," Slutkin said. "The main solution to this problem has got to be in the realm of behavior change."

Yoneta Littlejohn is not a constitutional scholar, but she knows about gun violence. Two friends -- teacher Erika Prince and student Chavez Clarke -- died in high-profile shootings in the past year.

"All these people I am close to have been killed by something that should have been stopped a long time ago," Littlejohn, 18, said as she prepared for a cultural exchange in Rwanda. "Just because it's constitutional doesn't mean it should be allowed. The Constitution was based in the 1700s. This is 2008."

Yet culinary student Drenetta Bagwell, 39, thinks a gun might be just what she needs to feel secure on a mean street. She suggests permitting people over 30 with no criminal records to carry a firearm.

"We as women need some type of protection," Bagwell said. "Guns should be banned for criminals, but you should be able to have one if you only use it with a good reason."