Posted on 07/26/2014 5:10:05 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Concludes a blanket ban of carry of handguns outside the home cannot survive ANY level of scrutiny, and is therefore unconstitutional.
Well, well, well–I guess the big guy upstairs knew I could do with a pick-me-up while I struggle through this respiratory infection. And boy, did he deliver big (with a h/t to Ace of Spades HQ).
"In light of Heller, McDonald, and their progeny, there is no longer any basis on which this Court can conclude that the District of Columbia’s total ban on the public carrying of ready-to-use handguns outside the home is constitutional under any level of scrutiny. Therefore, the Court finds that the District of Columbia’s complete ban on the carrying of handguns in public is unconstitutional."
Palmer v. District of Columbia (1:09-CV-1482 , filed July 26, 2014; full decision at the end of this post).
This should, of course, be the common fate of virtually every gun law currently on the books, particularly when (as is the only proper legal course) strict scrutiny is applied to the thousands of state and Federal laws that continue to irrationally infringe our rights to keep and bear arms.
Kudos to Attorney Alan Gura, for his continuing masterful efforts in defense and promotion of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. As Alan noted in his own blog, Reality-Based Litigation:
"In 2012, I won Moore v. Madigan, 702 F.3d 933 (7th Cir. 2012), which struck down Illinois total ban on the carrying of defensive handguns outside the home. With this decision in Palmer, the nation’s last explicit ban of the right to bear arms has bitten the dust. Obviously, the carrying of handguns for self-defense can be regulated. Exactly how is a topic of severe and serious debate, and courts should enforce constitutional limitations on such regulation should the government opt to regulate. But totally banning a right literally spelled out in the Bill of Rights isn’t going to fly. My deepest thanks to the Second Amendment Foundation for making this victory possible and to my clients for hanging in there. Congratulations Americans, your capital is not a constitution-free zone."
No doubt the pols of the District of Columbia will continue to fight tooth and nail to deny American citizens their Constitutional right to keep and bear arms in the public ways of our Capital city–commenter Christopher Talbot at Ace of Spades suggests they’ll now pass a holster ban–so the fight is far from won.
This piece of the victory, however, makes for a very nice Saturday afternoon, indeed! And here, as promised, is the full-length of the decision. Enjoy!
(DOCUMENT-AT-LINK)
Ha!
Maybe now crime will go down, much to the disappointment of the leftist rulers there.
I long to live in a world where courts finding the obvious isn’t a cause for celebration, but in this world, this is.
Well said
The powers that be in DC will just do what El-Presidente does when he doesn’t like a court decision; ignore it.
Yes, we congratulate courts when they act judiciously and reasonably.
One might expect that DC will enact a “certifiable need” standard, like CA or NJ, effectively banning CCW outside the home.
Might as well close DC down...
Politicians and lobbyists NEED a place where citizens are unarmed to do their job (as they see it)!
Seriously, good- though obvious- ruling.
Good ole “may issue” will likely become “may not issue”.
NOW repeal the GCA of 1968
I find this edict technically correct but for simple textual reason that the District of Columbia Constitutionally has no legal government separate from that of Congress and the President.
Thus D.C.’s Gun law are technically Congress’s gun law which is of course explicitly forbidden by the 2nd amendment of the Federal Constitution.
CCW in CA is county by county. The state standard is “just cause”. Many sheriffs have concluded “personal self defense” meets this standard. It’s not good out here, but it’s not as bad as some think.
I’ve been interested in this topic since I had a near miss in DC in 2011.
You are quite right that Congress has the power (and the responsibility) to legislate for the District “in all cases whatsoever”. This phrase had a very specific meaning to the authors of Article I.
As such, the DC “government” is a sham. The only powers they exercise are powers derived from the authority of Congress (and the President). They absolutely cannot do anything that Congress could not do.
The denial of permits to non-residents by DC, NJ, MD, NY, and Illinois is clearly unconstitutional. Hopefully, this decision will be sustained on appeal.
on Wednesday between 5:00 and 5:01pm when riding a white horse backward and wearing a green cowboy hat.
I would LOVE to see some open carry protests in Washington, DC.
Brits complain about American kids taught how to use weapons
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jul/25/kids-guns-and-the-american-way
fl
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