Federal Judiciary

D.C. Gun Rights Case is Heating Up

By AndrewHyman

The upcoming SCOTUS decision in District of Columbia v. Heller just got more interesting. Senator John McCain, as well as Vice President Dick Cheney, have signed onto a friend of the court brief. Together with bipartisan congressional majorities, they're urging SCOTUS to support the DC Circuit decision that struck down the DC handgun ban.

You can access all of the amicus briefs here. Strangely enough, VP Cheney (who is also President of the Senate) is now at odds with his own Justice Department, which is very unusual.

James Madison wrote in Federalist 43 that the District of Columbia would have a certain degree of home rule: "a municipal legislature for local purposes, derived from their own suffrages, will of course be allowed." But the framers never dreamt that the DC local government would cook up regulations that conflict with nationwide traditions of individual rights, and that conflict with national policy regarding fundamental freedoms. Even putting aside the constitutional issue regarding the Second Amendment, it?s difficult to see where the DC Home Rule Act provides any specific authority for the DC handgun ban.

I hope SCOTUS strikes down the DC handgun ban. As this amicus brief mentions, there?s no need to reach the Second Amendment issue; the ban was simply never authorized by Congress. And after the handgun ban is history, Congress ought to make some more history by approving a constitutional amendment giving DC citizens full representation in Congress --- DC citizens should be able to vote in Maryland's US Senate elections.

read more

Full post as published by ConfirmThem on February 10, 2008 (boomark / email).