The Outcome
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday June 26, 2008 that the DC handgun ban was a violation of its citizens right to bear arms according to the Second Amendment. It was a very close decision, 5-4, dropping the 31-year-long ban in DC. This was the first time federal appeals court ruled a gun law unconstitutional on the grounds of the Second Amendment.
What's Next?
DC Mayor Andrian Fenty gave the DC police department 21 days to implement the process for registering handguns. It will be still illegal to carry handguns outside of the home, and pistols have to be registered with the police department.
DC has been trying to work with the new ruling as well as continue to keep the city safe. In response to the ruling, DC made new emergency firearms legislation that will be in effect for 90 days while they work on permanent legislation.
The legislation will allow handguns to be kept in the home if they are used only for self-defense and carry fewer than 12 rounds of ammunition.
Handguns, rifles and shotguns have to be kept unloaded and disassembled or equipped with trigger locks unless there is a "resonably perceived threat of immediate harm" in the home.
Reactions to the Ruling
The National Rifle Association is obviously pleased with the ruling and claim that this ruling helps give them support for going against other cities that have similar laws to DC's.
On the other side of the issue the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was disappointed with the decision but glad that there are still provisions in place to keep the streets safer.
The citizens of DC had mixed reactions to the outcome.
Long-time DC resident Claire Lewis said, " I feel the handgun ban had been working for the residents of DC, it had been in place since the 70s. I felt safer at night with the ban in place."
On the other side, DC resident Charles Johnson said, " People always find ways around the law and when they do I want to have protection. I'm happy that now I will be able to protect my family. "
What the Justices Think
Justices Stephen G. Breyer, John Paul Stevens, David H. Scouter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg were in the minority. Breyer told the Washington Post the decision to revoke the DC handgun ban "threatens to throw into doubt the constitutionality of gun laws throughout the United States."
The justices in the majority, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. Scalia spoke on the behalf of the group to the Washington Post saying, "We hold that the Distict's ban on handgun possession in the home violates the Second Amendment, as does its prohibition against rendering any lawful firearm in the home operable for the purpose of immediate self defense."
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