Good news from DC for DC:

http://wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1083473

Cheers,
Mad

I wonder how the Mayor will react when the crime rate goes down.

This may actually be good for all of us if the Supreme Court takes this up. They could issue a ruling that would have long-standing positive affects. That is assuming they rule in our favor which I think they will.

I also believe they will. The two latest Justices both are strict conscrutionists. They will rule constitutional rights as they were written and not how they should be interpreted by liberals.

DC is down, next up NYC and LA. This is a great ruling, lets hope it will stand and be enforced. Still waiting for Nagan and gang to end up behind bars for contempt of court for violating the gun rights of the residents.

Brad S
Hebrews 10:39

Don't hold your breath for the comtempt of court charges to be enforced. You'll turn blue and die! :D

Kdub
Thanks, your right, but we can always dream

Here is an exerpt from MSNBC story on the DC firearms case.

Judge Karen Henderson dissented, writing that the Second Amendment does not apply to the District of Columbia because it is not a state.

If her argument holds, then the residents of DC would or should not be under the constitution or the bill of rights. They would neither have free speech or religious freedom. From what I see this is a dangerous path the is not fully supported by past court rulings. She is correct that DC is held differently, however, they have been, in the past, benefiting from the Constitution and bill of rights. If that is all they have to defend the ruling, I would say, bring on the Supreme Court.

Brad S
Hebrews 10:39

I thought DC was a District of Maryland?

I just spent some time reading the court's ruling. It is fantastic.

It supports the individual right argument all down the line! After all these years of BS from the left about the 2nd amendment, we now have two major federal appelate court decisions that support our rights.

I just hope this can go up the the SUpreme Court before the next election, since the Justice department is currently on record as supporting the individual right interpretation.

We need to thank the NRA and the other amicus curiae filers who supported this lawsuit...and the great legal scholarship that has been conducted on this subject in the last 10 years.

This will be BIG!!!

I thought DC was a District of Maryland?


Kansas
DC, District Of Columbia, was set up under federal jurisdiction, it is neither a state nor actually a city in the true sense. As a separate entity they originally were not allowed to vote for President, I believe DC is still not granted any electoral votes so they may still not have a say in the federal election. They are actually not represented in congress. They do not have a Senator that represents them. Someone can correct me on this.

My understanding is that the citizens are still United States Citizens and that the bill of rights did apply on a exception basis. But they should still apply, including the 2nd amendment.

Brad S
Hebrews 10:39

This I got from Wikipedia:

Washington, D.C. is the capital (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital) city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City) of the United States of America (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States). "D.C." is an abbreviation for the District of Columbia, the federal district (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_districts_and_territories) coextensive with the city of Washington. The city is named after George Washington (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington), military leader of the American Revolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution) and the first President of the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States).
The District of Columbia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Columbia) and the city of Washington are coextensive and are governed by a single municipal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipality) government (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government). For most practical purposes, they are considered to be the same entity, though this was not always the case. As late as 1871, when Georgetown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgetown%2C_Washington%2C_D.C.) ceased to be a separate city, there were multiple jurisdictions within the District. Although there is a municipal government and a mayor, Congress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress) has the supreme authority (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzerainty) over the city and district, which results in citizens having a different status and less representation in government than residents of the states.
The centers of all three branches of the U.S. federal government (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_government_of_the_United_States) are in the District. It also serves as the headquarters for the World Bank (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank), the International Monetary Fund (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Monetary_Fund), and the Organization of American States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States), and other national and international institutions. Washington is the frequent location of large political demonstrations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonstration_%28people%29) and protests (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protest), particularly on the National Mall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Mall). Washington is the site of numerous national landmarks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Historic_Landmark), monuments, and museums (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum), and is a popular destination for tourists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism).
It is commonly known as D.C., The District, or simply Washington. Historically, it was called the Federal City or Washington City. To avoid confusion with the state of Washington (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington), located in the Pacific Northwest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest), the city is often called simply D.C.. The population of the District of Columbia, as of 2005 U.S. Census Bureau (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Census_Bureau) estimates, is 582,049 persons. The great in-migration of professionals from all over the U.S. to the Washington, DC area over the past century makes meeting a native-born Washingtonian a rare occasion in some settings.
The Washington Metropolitan Area (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Metropolitan_Area) surpasses 5 million persons, and the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore-Washington_Metropolitan_Area) surpasses 8 million. If Washington, D.C. were a state (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state), it would rank last in area behind Rhode Island (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhode_Island), 50th in population ahead of Wyoming (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming), first in population density ahead of New Jersey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey), and 35th in Gross State Product (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_State_Product).
Jean

My understanding is that the citizens are still United States Citizens and that the bill of rights did apply on a exception basis. But they should still apply, including the 2nd amendment.

Brad, unlike the rest of the bill of rights, the second amendment uses the phrase, "necessary to the security of a free State". Today, for all practical purposes, the U.S. is one state, and individual states have very little independence. However, that was not the case at the time the bill of rights were written. This raises the question of whether the the second amendment applies only to individual states or to the nation as a whole.

Anyway, the decision made by the court was obviously the right one, and this is a big step forward for gun rights, not just in D.C. but in the rest of the country. This sets a precedent that other courts will look to. Even better, the mayor has vowed to keep fighting this, not realizing that the pro-gun community will absolutely welcome an opportunity to visit this issue -- really for the first time -- in the Supreme Court. If that happens, and a similar decision is handed down, numerous gun laws all across the country will fall like dominoes. This could be the beginning of the restoration of our badly eroding gun rights.

The nations leading language expert years ago was consulted on the wording of the 2nd Ammendment, and found the whole militia clause to be a dependent clause. In other words, it explains one reason for ensuring the right to keep and bear arms, but it is not an exclusive reason. I understand it was added as an afterthought, partly due to concern some states might refuse to ratify the 2nd Ammendment without that political position being expressed, though it proved to be an unnecessary concern.

An attorney friend of mine read the decision on Drudge's web site. He comments:

"The two judges use solid reason and scholarly references to tear apart the collective right argument. I had not believed one could write with such intellectual honesty and still be a judge.

"The one dissenting judge essentially based her dissent on the the principle that reason cannot overturn established precedent. One wonders how she would have voted had she been asked to decide Brown v. The Board of Education overturning the precedents of segregation."

I wonder how the Mayor will react when the crime rate goes down.

i was kinda wondering about that myself............