Supreme Court knocks down SJC’s stun-gun ruling

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2016/03/supreme_court_knocks_down_sjc_s_stun_gun_ruling

Supreme Court knocks down SJC’s stun-gun ruling
Bob McGovern Tuesday, March 22, 2016

The Supreme Court has zapped a decision by the Bay State’s highest court that found the Second Amendment does not apply to stun guns.

The nation’s highest court ruled that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s reasoning for allowing a ban of stun guns ran afoul of a 2008 decision by the late Justice Antonin Scalia that guaranteed an individual’s right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes.

The SJC will have to hear the case again, which will give Jaime Caetano — a woman who was caught with a stun gun in her purse — a chance to erase her conviction.

“The Commonwealth of Massachusetts was either unable or unwilling to do what was necessary to protect Jaime Caetano, so she was forced to protect herself,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote, concurring in the decision. “To make matters worse, the Commonwealth chose to deploy its prosecutorial resources to prosecute and convict her of a criminal offense for arming herself with a nonlethal weapon that may well have saved her life.”