D.C. Gun Ban has been struck down by a Federal Court. (PDF of ruling)
Excerpt:
To summarize, we conclude that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That right existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution and was premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat from abroad). In addition, the right to keep and bear arms had the important and salutary civic purpose of helping to preserve the citizen militia. The civic purpose was also a political expedient for the Federalists in the First Congress as it served, in part, to placate their Antifederalist opponents. The individual right facilitated militia service by ensuring that citizens would not be barred from keeping the arms they would need when called forth for militia duty. Despite the importance of the Second Amendment’s civic purpose, however, the activities it protects are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual’s enjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued or intermittent enrollment in the militia.
Note: the court also rejected the notion that because the district is not a state it is not subject to the Constitution. Judge Henderson (lone dissenter) says the right is collective and not individual. Her other excuse was that the District is not a State and therefore is not subject to the constitution.
Hot Air’s Take on the ruling (link)
Austrian site with story. (link to story)
WASHINGTON, March 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In a ground-breaking opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today overturned the D.C. gun ban, a three-decade old prohibition on possession of firearms within the Nation’s Capital. Senior Judge Lawrence H. Silberman, joined by Judge Thomas B. Griffith, a recent Bush appointee, concluded that “the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms.” Judge Karen Lecraft Henderson filed a dissenting opinion.
Rejoice people, maybe some sanity is returning to our country.
Supreme Court here we come!
Tags: NRA, DC gun ban, gun, second amendment, gun rights
