John McCain calls it a "landmark victory for Second Amendment freedom."

He's praising Thursday's Supreme Court ruling that strikes down the District of Columbia's ban on handguns. But he says it doesn't end what he calls the "struggle against those who seek to limit the rights of law-abiding citizens."

Barack Obama, meanwhile, is speaking out both in support of an individual's right to bear firearms and a government's right to regulate them.

A carefully-worded statement didn't say whether Obama agrees with overturning the D.C. ban. But it does say that the ruling will give "much needed guidance" to other communities.

Obama says he's always believed that the Second Amendment protects "the right of individuals to bear arms." But he also says he identifies with what he calls "the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets."