HELENA - U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is part of a group of lawmakers signing a brief supporting a gun rights case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The court is considering whether the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms applies to state and local laws restricting guns. The case arose from a handgun ban in Chicago.

Gun advocates want the court to strike down such local laws.

Tester says 55 other senators, including 17 other Democrats, have signed onto a brief in support of gun rights he put together with Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas