Heller v. D.C.

3 posts
Civil Rights

Palmer v. D.C.

In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that Washington D.C. could not ban the ownership of handguns. The city responded by passing the hysterically-named Firearms Registration Emergency Amendment Act [pdf]. It created as many hurdles as legally feasible for would-be gun owners. and it prohibited the carry of firearms outside the home.

Alan Gura brought this case in response to the ban on carry. The District Court did its best to ignore it for two years. In 2011 Chief Justice Roberts intervened and ordered Judge Scullin to hear it. Then it seemed to disappear again.

As such, it goes without saying that today’s opinion [pdf] was unexpected. Cue the highlight reel:

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.

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Civil Rights

Heller v. DC

Following the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision in DC v. Heller, the District of Columbia was forced to allow handgun ownership. They quickly cobbled together the Firearms Control Emergency Amendment Act of 2008, into which they put as many obstacles as they could. They retained a very intrusive and burdensome registration system that wouldn’t pass constitutional muster in most other places.

Dick Heller and the 2nd Amendment Foundation brought another suit challenging several of the District’s regulations, and thus far, the courts have been uncooperative. Today’s decision in the US District Court [pdf] doesn’t leave us with much hope.

Judge Boasberg approached the proceedings with a hostile and dismissive mind. The Supreme Court found that rational basis was off the table when considering laws abridging the right to keep and bear arms, so he simply calls it intermediate scrutiny.

Given that the Supreme Court urges judicial deference to legislative predictions as well as to legislative judgments regarding conflicting evidence,it is plain that Plaintiffs are mistaken about the burden of proof in this case.

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Civil Rights

Back to the D.C. Circuit

3 comments

The Washington D.C. District Court has handed down its opinion in Heller v. D.C. [pdf]. Joshua Blackman has an analysis that renders any of mine redundant.

Following the Supreme Court decision in D.C. v. Heller, the District did its absolute best to comply with the Court’s ruling as little as possible.  Though citizens were theoretically allowed to register handguns, the process involves jumping some pretty substantial hurdles.  Dick Heller brought suit on three points:

  1. the District’s registration scheme in general,
  2. the ban on “assault weapons,” and
  3. restrictions on magazine capacity.

The District Court rejected strict scrutiny, finding that all three measures met with intermediate scrutiny.