Posted on 07/30/2008 3:38:41 PM PDT by 2nd amendment mama
On Monday, Dick Heller and two other plaintiffs filed suits against the District of Columbia's revised gun laws. The complaint challenges the following provisions of D.C. law:
The ban on all self-loading handguns (about 3/4 of handguns sold in the U.S.) by defining them as "machine guns."
Allowing registration only upon the payment of an unspecified fee for ballistic testing of the handgun.
The self-defense provision in the D.C. law which allows a gun in the home to be loaded, unlocked, and rendered functional only "while it is being used to protect against a reasonably perceived threat of immediate harm to a person within the registrant’s home." The exception is too narrow, and burdens the right of self-defense. p>
The complaint further alleges that the aforesaid provisions are not only violations of the Second Amendment, they exceed the non-infinite home rule powers which Congress delegated to the District's city council.
There are some other problems with the new D.C. law. Handgun possession is allowed only for a person who wants the handgun for home defense; it is illegal in D.C. to acquire a handgun for recreational target shooting, to practice marksmanship before enrolling in the military or joining a police department, or for lawful hunting Maryland or Virginia. The only time that a gun can be unlocked is when it being used for self-defense against an immediate attack; accordingly, it is illegal to remove the lock from an unloaded gun in order to clean the gun. The problem would be resolved by the requested relief of enjoining all enforcement of the gun lock law against defensive firearms.
Attorneys in the case are Stephen Halbrook and Richard Gardiner, of Fairfax, Virginia. They both been involved in firearms law and policy for three decades, and they are excellent lawyers. Halbrook has a 4-0 record as lead counsel in Supreme Court cases.
ping
“Halbrook has a 4-0 record as lead counsel in Supreme Court cases.”
Wow! Have to keep in mind that easily or clearly decided cases don’t usually reach the Supremen Court. I know, we all thought Heller should have been an easy decision, but the 5-4 ruling shows otherwise. A 4-0 record in that setting is pretty awesome! Let’s hope he keeps the run going!!!
Nope - semi-autos are machine guns according to those in power in DC. Idiots!!! I guess the cops in DC are in violation - they carry Glocks!
Read these commies the Declaration of Independence and give them 24 hours to comply.
“now I can ask $10,000 for my 44mag SW”
Nope. That will be the monthly fee to own it under Borat Insane.
I'm sure the police are exempted from the law and are allowed to carry machine guns in the line of duty if properly qualified.
SWAT teams across the country are able to use machine guns. I know a sheriff's deputy who used to carry a full auto MP5 when he went out with the SWAT team, before he became a sniper.
And no I don't see why police SWAT teams which are used to serve warrants on violent criminals should be allowed to carry machine guns, but citizens are not. Citizens are at risk of being attacked by those same people that the police feel they must be armed with machine guns to deal with.
I however thing we're going to have to work our way up to that particular fight in the courts.
I think that perhaps these idiots writing these laws need to be beaten over the head with an unloaded gun.
Don’t you feel sorry for a gun?;-))
I’ll bet that the appellate court overturns the new laws and then prohibits DC from appealing.
The Left never stops.
I guess you missed my sarcasm....duh!
Ping bump.
No, but they might have overplayed their hand here. Heller, among other things, asked for a writ of mandamus. It’s an extraordinary remedy, but a court might find it appropriate here since D.C. has pretty clearly flouted the Supreme Court’s ruling. Such a writ is a command from the court to do something, which, if granted, would essentially allow the court to write the law itself.
I suspect that D.C. is going to wind up with a lot more gun friendly law than it otherwise would have if it would have simply played fair. They might well get smacked around.
Not idiots at all they know EXACTLY what they're doing. They are fully aware that semi-autos are NOT machine guns, but they call them that in order to demonize them in the public eye.
As far as the DC cops go, government goons are always exempt from the laws that apply to the rest of us. We have to follow laws. Police only have to follow departmental guidleines. For example, as a citizen if you kill a fleeing robber you will be charged with murder in some jurisdictions (and the media will express astonichment all over the fromt page if you're not in other jurisdictions). However, if a cop shoots a fleeing suspect in the back and kills him, then all the cop has to say is "I was in fear of my life," and voila no problemo - they'll be an "investigation" but nothing will ever come of it. So if the police can get away with murder, you'd hardly expect little things like the odious gun rules that apply to the rest of us citizens to apply to the JBT's.
If it is a machine gun, then a semi-auto would require a class three for ownership. The DC government is run by idiots.
An absolute truth that a lot of people don't realize. Gun control and a belief in unrestricted government power in general is a religion to garbage like Fenty and Lanier (as well as a lot of other mayors and bureaucrats). They believe in it with a fervor that exceeds al qaeda's belief in destroying the infidel. They are not disuaded by logic or reason. The constitution means nothing to them. They are not moved by concern for the citizens' welfare. They have no mercy for those who would protect their families from criminals. They never stop (as you say). There are only three possible outcomes with people like this.
Nah, the appeals court will overrule the new laws and let Fenty insert the boot in his backside even deeper by allowing them to appeal to SCOTUS again.
Fenty is like the abused woman who keeps going back for more...
Mike
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