Definitely check out this article by Brian Dohert in Reason Magazine on the aftermath of McDonald v. Chicago.
With the promise of reviving the Privileges or Immunities Clause left unfulfilled, perhaps McDonald isn’t so revolutionary. Perhaps it is merely the final cementing of a middle-of-the-road consensus about guns that had been solidifying since the last wave of strong gun control regulations in the mid-1990s, the same wave that many Democrats think hurt their party in the 1994 and 2000 elections.
With shall-issue carry laws sweeping the nation over the past 25 years with no commensurate public mayhem, and with strong gun prohibitions largely absent from the national political stage, a basic understanding of a limited right to own guns rules the republic. No doubt, there are committed partisans for a “what part of ‘shall not be infringed’ don’t you understand?” stance, as well as dedicated keep-guns-out-of-everyone’s-hands warriors.
But both sides are fighting a war as relevant as the Crimean to most Americans. No guns are being pried out of anyone’s cold, dead hands. Still, it’s worth remembering that while alcohol prohibition is over, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a highly regulated pain-in-the-ass trying to run a bar, or that one’s access to booze isn’t highly circumscribed in various localities. That’s also the likely future for guns in a post-McDonald America where total prohibition is no longer an option.