D.C. Petition for Rehearing of Gun Ban Case Denied

Supreme Court likely to be District's next step

    WASHINGTON, May 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, in a 6-4 vote, the
 U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied a motion
 by the D.C. government to reconsider the court's blockbuster opinion in
 Parker v. District of Columbia. On March 9, the court held in Parker that
 "the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms,"
 striking down a 31-year old ban on guns in the nation's capital. Moreover,
 the court continued, activities protected by the Amendment "are not limited
 to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right
 contingent upon his or her continued or intermittent enrollment in the
 militia."
     That means the D.C. handgun ban is unconstitutional and, unless the
 Supreme Court overturns the Parker decision, the ban will have to be
 lifted. Most likely, the D.C. government will now ask the Supreme Court to
 review the appellate court decision. If so, the high court could decide
 this summer whether to take the case.
     "If the Supreme Court grants review, the citizens of this country will
 finally have a foursquare pronouncement from the nation's highest court
 about the real meaning of the Second Amendment," said Cato Institute senior
 fellow Robert Levy, who acted as plaintiff's co-counsel. "That's good news.
 For those of us who have long argued that the Second Amendment secures an
 individual's right to own a firearm for personal protection, the D.C.
 Circuit has confirmed that the Constitution is on our side."
     The full text of the original complaint, Parker v. District of
 Columbia, is available at http://www.cato.org/pubs/legalbriefs/gunsuit.pdf.
     The Cato Institute is a nonpartisan public policy research foundation
 dedicated to broadening policy debate consistent with the traditional
 American principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets
 and peace.
     Contact: Susan Semeleer, senior manager of media relations,
 202-789-5212; ssemeleer@cato.org
 
 

SOURCE CATO Institute