Hello to arms: Second Amendment victory in D. C.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Citings

THROUGH A combination of possession restrictions and storage requirements, the District of Columbia effectively prohibits the vast majority of Washingtonians from keeping guns in their homes for self-defense. In a sense, then, it was not really surprising when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded last March that D.C.'s gun law violates the individual right to keep and bear arms. The surprising part was the court's acknowledgment that the Constitution protects such a right.

Because that conclusion is at odds with the rulings of other circuits, the case may lead to a Supreme Court decision that gives new power to a constitutional guarantee long ignored by the federal courts. In May the D.C. Circuit rejected the city's request for a rehearing of the case, which was decided by a three-judge panel.

This is the first time a U.S. circuit court has found a gun control law to be inconsistent with the Second Amendment. Only one other federal appeals court, the 5th Circuit, has even conceded that the Second Amendment has any bearing on laws that restrict individuals' possession and use of guns. The rest of the circuits that have addressed the issue have endorsed the "collective right" interpretation of the Second Amendment, according to which "the right of the people to keep and...