That's where the real action takes place this week in the fight to stem gun violence.

At center stage today is the U.S. Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear its first Second Amendment case in decades. In taking up a challenge to the nation's strictest gun-control statute - the District of Columbia's 1976 handgun ban - the court will be engaging in the legal equivalent of twirling a loaded gun.

The key question for Philadelphia and other cities plagued by illegal guns: In whose direction will that lethal weapon end up being pointed?

The issue before the high court is whether the Constitution protects an individual right to gun ownership, as opposed to the legal view that the Second Amendment assures only the right to arm a militia.

Reading the Second Amendment as a license for every citizen to bear arms could limit some or all government attempts to impose reasonable gun-safety measures.

Were the court to strike down as unconstitutional the district's handgun ban, it could set back gun-control efforts decades.

That would put urban America squarely in the crosshairs, given the flood of illegal handguns already plaguing city streets.

These communities know that gun-control laws aren't a fail-safe crime preventive; just look at Washington's appalling number of shootings despite its ban. But the laws play a vital role in stemming gun trafficking.

That's why it's worth pushing Harrisburg to require the reporting of lost or stolen guns - the focus of the bus caravan and capital rally yesterday. By the same token, Mayor Nutter is right to push for greater city control over handgun sales and licensing.

In the federal case, even the Bush administration's Solicitor General Paul D. Clement is urging restraint by the Supreme Court. Clement's concern is that the constitutionality of federal laws could be questioned, including the ban on owning a machine gun

With the Roberts court, there's never been more hope for every citizen who dreams of owning his own .50 caliber. Such a ruling would be wildly out of step, though, with the majority of Americans who favor gun-control laws already on the books and even tougher measures.