March 18, 2008 10:26AM # Supreme Court Hears Second Amendment Case Today By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) --- SHARE This morning the Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments in the landmark Second Amendment case, *DC v. Heller.* People started getting in line [last night](http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=687784&page=1). (HT: [Volokh Conspiracy](http://volokh.com/)). Here’s the [story](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/17/AR2008031702503.html?sid=ST2008031702809) from today’s *Washington Post.* An audio of the argument will be released around 11:30 am EST for those of us who could not attend the live event. The attorneys who present the arguments must be prepared for three scenarios. Scenario I is a “cold bench” — which means few questions. In that scenario, the attorney must be ready to speak persuasively for about 30 minutes. Scenario II is the “hot bench” — which means *lots* of questions. In that scenario, the attorney must be ready for a barrage of questions and just hope that he/​she can make a strong opening and closing without interruption. Scenario III is somewhere in between the two extremes. Everyone expects a hot bench today. Should be very interesting. For additional background, go [here](https://www.cato.org/subtopic_display_new.php?topic_id=30&ra_id=9) and [here](http://dcguncase.com/blog/case-filings/). ##### Related Tags [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).