July 11, 2007
Appeal of Gun Ruling Still Unsure
After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the District's restrictive handgun laws were unconstitutional in early March, Mayor Adrian Fenty was quick to promise a swift appeal. But when the full court declined to rehear the case two months later, thus forcing a potential showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court, Fenty was forced to slam on the brakes. Since then, he and his legal team have grappled with a vexing question -- whether to appeal or not.
According to an article today in the Washington Times, Fenty is using up the full 90 days he has to make the call. Any final decision will have to be made by the first week in August.
It's not an envious position to be in. Should Fenty choose to appeal, he runs the risk of having the court's newly-empowered conservative majority declare for the first time that gun ownership is an individual, not a collective, right -- thus throwing into question gun regulations across the country. Should he not appeal, the D.C. Council would have to rush back into session to craft a new law covering the ownership of handguns, effectively upending a three-decade-old prohibition. Everyone from big-city mayors to the NRA is pushing one way or another, not to mention the District's own residents.
Fenty said a decision would be coming "within the next week."
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Should he not appeal, the D.C. Council would have to rush back into session to craft a new law covering the ownership of handguns, effectively upending a three-decade-old prohibition.
Yeah, sucks for them if they have to come back from summer vacation to, y'know, actually earn their salaries, but there it is.
Still don't see what the big deal is. Just make the damned things legal and mandate firearms training, an age restriction, mandatory locks, background checks, etc. Seems to work for VA/MD, but it's always a lot easier to blame inanimate objects (guns, drugs, nightclubs, freaking diners) than to deal with the causes of violent crime. Making guns legal isn't going to have much impact on the crime rate anyway, but it certainly won't result in the bloodbath prohibition supporters seem to think is inevitable. Isn't this just local pride getting pissed on by the Feds? And didn't DC have this coming for a long time, the law being all unconstitutional-like?
Guns don't kill people, the poor ghetto trash in DC kill people.
I, for one, would welcome legal firearms in DC, so law abiding citizens could have a chance to shoot back. This gun ban is a JOKE especially, when every other thug in the city has a "gat"
Make guns legal, make the tax and cost of permits insane, double the penalties for unlicensed possession and we'll essentially be at the same place.
Fenty is taking a big risk if he appeals this considering it would give the current SCOTUS a chance at knocking down gun laws in who knows how many cities. But I don't see how a right for a 'well-regulated militia' could be interpreted as one for an individual. It's bad enough that any clinically insane person can legally buy a gun at a private gun show, it's sure not worth letting them bring it into DC to do as they please with it and not face the full weight of the law for misusing it. Anyone who thinks they'll be safer without the gun ban is deluding themselves.
make the damn things legal... then at least i can shoot back at any asshole who dares point one at me
Why doesn't anyone see that the current ban has done NOTHING
The gun-related deaths per 100,000 people in 1994 by country were as follows (from http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=6166):
* U.S.A. 14.24
* Brazil 12.95
* Mexico 12.69
* Estonia 12.26
* Argentina 8.93
* Northern Ireland 6.63
* Finland 6.46
* Switzerland 5.31
* France 5.15
* Canada 4.31
* Norway 3.82
* Austria 3.70
* Portugal 3.20
* Israel 2.91
* Belgium 2.90
* Australia 2.65
* Slovenia 2.60
* Italy 2.44
* New Zealand 2.38
* Denmark 2.09
* Sweden 1.92
* Kuwait 1.84
* Greece 1.29
* Germany 1.24
* Hungary 1.11
* Ireland 0.97
* Spain 0.78
* Netherlands 0.70
* Scotland 0.54
* England and Wales 0.41
* Taiwan 0.37
* Singapore 0.21
* Mauritius 0.19
* Hong Kong 0.14
* South Korea 0.12
* Japan 0.05
Next time I get mugged at gunpoint, I'll remember that I should have pulled out my gat before the mugger. So I suppose I'll just carry it out, in my hand, aiming it at everyone who walks near me at night. And I guess they'll do the same.
That would be awesome.
I'm with guest#6. Sure, guns don't kill people, people kill people. But the same reasoning applies to nukes.
The elided point is, both just make it sooo much easier. Any stats on how many homicides were by gun v other methods?
Oh yea, Austria's a great example for guest #6's point. Considering that in Austria every male between 18 and about 50 is required by law to own an assault rifle... And yet, our gun death rate is 8 times higher than theirs...
And that goes double for Switzerland. Clearly what's needed in DC is mandatory gun ownership. Certainly would make Friday night at H20 more interesting.
I think we need to ease into it. No glocks, no semi-autos period.
Just harmless Derringers for now. And any woman using one must holster them in a frilly garter. Any man using them must be required to have a mustache.
Also acceptable are dueling pistols and those old-timey pilgrim guns that look like trombones.
They're called a blunderbus, and are my personal favorite too. Filled with nail and gravel and anything you could get your hands on.
It's all about the quick draw, tho. If someone's already drawn on you, what'cha gonna do? I'd rather have a vest and a good pair of running shoes.
I'd personally love to see the breakdown by neighborhood of the DC residents who support ending the ban. If I had to guess, the people behind it don't live in places where gun violence is necessarily a problem. If you live in the shit in DC, you're not exactly rooting for more crossfire.
Has anyone seen/done any studies on the increasing conservative base in DC? With the influx of Hill-related people here building the Neo-con death machine, and gentrification making larger portions of the city safe for said worker drones, has anyone else noticed things seem to be changing bit by bit?
Is Republican the new gay?
No, but hoplessness IS the new hope.
To all the posters who express a desire to "pull out " on whoever points a gun at you, it is a long way from legal ownership to the extension of the right to carry a concealed weapon. States such as MI and FL have legal ownership, but still had to pass new measures to legalize the carrying of handguns and their use in self-defense.
I'd wager you're right, Guest #12.
It's a slippery slope, rdo. First you allow people to own handguns. Then they start wanting concealed carry laws. Then they want to carry them in the open, a la the Black Panter Party in Oakland. Then they start shooting people in the face with "harmless derringers" loaded with .410 shells full of rock salt and rusty nails coated in feces.
The Slippery Slope is to guns as "I want to run a nice neighborhood restaurant" is to Club U, Cloud, etc.
to #4
well, if the constitution can somehow be read to imply a right to privacy, I don't really see reading "well-regulated militia" as an individual right as all that much of a stretch
It really doesn't matter what Fenty does now but he'll stand a better chance by appealing. If he doesn't, the plaintiff in the case, Ms. Parker may have her attorneys file a request with the USSC to rule on the disparity that now exists due to the decision of the lower court. If Fenty appeals, he stands a chance of at least walking away with a narrower ruling from the USSC. If he doesn't and Ms. Parker (or any other attorney out there who chooses to do so) will be able to word the request so that the court gives a much broader ruling.
Fenty is in a very bad spot with his stance. He doesn't realize that the CATO institute set him and DC up good for this case.
No matter what at this point, the DC gun ban is dead. He might as well deal with it. However, by appealing he can argue to have the USSC rule very narrowly due to DC being a Federal territory and not a proper state. If he doesn't, there are several attorneys that have expressed an interest in writing a request to the USSC to settle the disparity.