Gun Ban Struck Down

[jamaro]

Just a quick heads up on breaking news.. The Gun Ban in DC has been struck down... AWESOME....

 

J

[Red Rabbit]

Supreme Court Ruling

 

SCOTUS Blog

[Red Rabbit]

From the AP:

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer

 

 

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense in their homes, the justices' first major pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history.

 

 

The court's 5-4 ruling struck down the District of Columbia's 32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with gun rights under the Second Amendment. The decision went further than even the Bush administration wanted, but probably leaves most firearms restrictions intact.

 

The court had not conclusively interpreted the Second Amendment since its ratification in 1791. The amendment reads: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

 

The basic issue for the justices was whether the amendment protects an individual's right to own guns no matter what, or whether that right is somehow tied to service in a state militia.

 

Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said that an individual right to bear arms is supported by "the historical narrative" both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted.

 

The Constitution does not permit "the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home," Scalia said. The court also struck down Washington's requirement that firearms be equipped with trigger locks or kept disassembled, but left intact the licensing of guns.

 

Scalia noted that the handgun is Americans' preferred weapon of self-defense in part because "it can be pointed at a burglar with one hand while the other hand dials the police."

 

In a dissent he summarized from the bench, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the majority "would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons."

 

He said such evidence "is nowhere to be found."

 

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote a separate dissent in which he said, "In my view, there simply is no untouchable constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns in the house in crime-ridden urban areas."

 

Joining Scalia were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. The other dissenters were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter.

 

Gun rights supporters hailed the decision. "I consider this the opening salvo in a step-by-step process of providing relief for law-abiding Americans everywhere that have been deprived of this freedom," said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association.

 

The NRA will file lawsuits in San Francisco, Chicago and several of its suburbs challenging handgun restrictions there based on Thursday's outcome.

 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a leading gun control advocate in Congress, criticized the ruling. "I believe the people of this great country will be less safe because of it," she said.

 

The capital's gun law was among the nation's strictest.

 

Dick Anthony Heller, 66, an armed security guard, sued the District after it rejected his application to keep a handgun at his home for protection in the same Capitol Hill neighborhood as the court.

 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in Heller's favor and struck down Washington's handgun ban, saying the Constitution guarantees Americans the right to own guns and that a total prohibition on handguns is not compatible with that right.

 

The issue caused a split within the Bush administration. Vice President Dick Cheney supported the appeals court ruling, but others in the administration feared it could lead to the undoing of other gun regulations, including a federal law restricting sales of machine guns. Other laws keep felons from buying guns and provide for an instant background check.

 

White House reaction was restrained. "We're pleased that the Supreme Court affirmed that the Second Amendment protects the right of Americans to keep and bear arms," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

 

Scalia said nothing in Thursday's ruling should "cast doubt on long-standing prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons or the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings."

 

In a concluding paragraph to the his 64-page opinion, Scalia said the justices in the majority "are aware of the problem of handgun violence in this country" and believe the Constitution "leaves the District of Columbia a variety of tools for combating that problem, including some measures regulating handguns."

 

The law adopted by Washington's city council in 1976 bars residents from owning handguns unless they had one before the law took effect. Shotguns and rifles may be kept in homes, if they are registered, kept unloaded and either disassembled or equipped with trigger locks.

 

Opponents of the law have said it prevents residents from defending themselves. The Washington government says no one would be prosecuted for a gun law violation in cases of self-defense.

 

The last Supreme Court ruling on the topic came in 1939 in U.S. v. Miller, which involved a sawed-off shotgun. Constitutional scholars disagree over what that case means but agree it did not squarely answer the question of individual versus collective rights.

 

Forty-four state constitutions contain some form of gun rights, which are not affected by the court's consideration of Washington's restrictions.

 

The case is District of Columbia v. Heller, 07-290.

 

 

[.270]

this is about as good o' news as we've had in quite awhile. i can't wait for anti's to try and get it changed. this is another thing that the president can put on the "good" side of the list of his accomplishments. without the appointments he made on the supreme court, this would have never happened. and this is a big, big deal. if it had went the other way, it would most likely have been the begining of the end for legal firearm ownership by the general public. this is a good day. Lark.

[TAM]

As mentioned in the article the NRA will most likley begin to file law suits in several other gun ban cities across the country. This will no doubt cost a lot of money. It would probably be a good idea for those of us that enjoy our rights to own guns to either join the NRA, renew our membership, or just send them a check to help the cause.

 

I know a lot of people, including myself, have issues with the way the NRA is run, but the truth is they're all we've got!!!

[mattys281]

As mentioned in the article the NRA will most likley begin to file law suits in several other gun ban cities across the country. This will no doubt cost a lot of money. It would probably be a good idea for those of us that enjoy our rights to own guns to either join the NRA, renew our membership, or just send them a check to help the cause.

 

I know a lot of people, including myself, have issues with the way the NRA is run, but the truth is they're all we've got!!!

 

You make a good point. I'm gonna have to quite file-13-ing their letters.

 

THis is awesome news!

[BowNut]

This is great. Finally a step in the right direction!

He is anouther link my dad sent me.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25390404/from/ET/

[jamaro]

Tim... Well said..

 

J

[4Falls]

This is the best news Ive heard in days I actually "woo-hooed" and high fived the wife. Seriously great news and its great to see the antis knocked back on their heels. I believe they never saw this coming.

[Hooked_on_Coues]

 

Bush didn't go where I would have liked for him to on this. Cheney stepped away from him and supported it all the way though....

 

Here is a quip on the Bush stance when the issue came up:

 

Bad Brief

The Bush DOJ shoots at the Second Amendment.

 

By John R. Lott Jr.

 

A lot of Americans who believe in the right to own guns were very disappointed this weekend. On Friday, the Bush administration’s Justice Department entered into the fray over the District of Columbia’s 1976 handgun ban by filing a brief to the Supreme Court that effectively supports the ban. The administration pays lip service to the notion that the Second Amendment protects gun ownership as an “individual right,” but their brief leaves the term essentially meaningless.

 

Quotes by the two sides’ lawyers say it all. The District’s acting attorney general, Peter Nickles, happily noted that the Justice Department’s brief was a “somewhat surprising and very favorable development.” Alan Gura, the attorney who will be representing those challenging the ban before the Supreme Court, accused the Bush administration of “basically siding with the District of Columbia” and said that “This is definitely hostile to our position.” As the lead to an article in the Los Angeles Times said Sunday, “gun-control advocates never expected to get a boost from the Bush administration.”

 

 

 

 

 

[Hooked_on_Coues]

sorry Doug, didn't notice your post covered that issue.

[GRONG]

Did you guys notice that is was a 5 to 4 vote!!! If that isn't a damned good reason to vote Repulican so that ol turn-coat McCain can at least nominate some judges instead of Hussein......... I'm very very afraid for our country and our way of living, in every sense, if ol crack-pot B.O. and his commie wife get in there.

[GodIsGood]

Did you guys notice that is was a 5 to 4 vote!!! If that isn't a damned good reason to vote Repulican so that ol turn-coat McCain can at least nominate some judges instead of Hussein......... I'm very very afraid for our country and our way of living, in every sense, if ol crack-pot B.O. and his commie wife get in there.

 

GRONG IS SO RIGHT! If the Demoncrats control the House, Senate AND the white house - the next sitting Pres will have the UN-CHECKED opportunity to appoint three or more closet-socialist supreme court judges. Now lets say the country gets a wake-up call in a few years and realizes they made some voting mistakes by going "liberal"... although no one is complaining much or writing stories about how crappy things are under the Demoncratically-controlled house and senate - everything is still G-Dub's fault, but we wont be able to VOTE-OUT the Supreme Court judges who can turn this country upside down!

 

LIKE HIS MOM SAYS' "i'M GONNA HOLD MY NOSE AND VOTE FOR MCCAIN"

 

PLEASE PLEASE DO THE SAME

[muskrat]

.. and then DC goes and rejects Heller's handgun application. This fight has just begun, guys...

 

http://arizonahuntingtoday.com/desertrat/2...un-application/