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D.C. asked a federal judge to reconsider his July ruling overturning the city’s public handgun ban Monday.

As Legal Times first reported, the city’s attorneys argue in papers filed today that U.S. District Judge Frederick Scullin Jr. “failed to conduct the analysis required by controlling law, and relied on flawed, non-controlling decisions from other jurisdictions” to make his ruling declaring the city’s ban on public handgun carrying unconstitutional.

The record here fully supports the unique character of the District of Columbia and the justification for the prohibition under intermediate scrutiny. The District, in addition to being the seat of the federal government and home to the President, is host to thousands of foreign dignitaries each year and the site of many mass demonstrations. The potential for armed mischief is thus perhaps greater in the District of Columbia than in any other American city.

“The District is a city, not a state,” D.C.’s attorneys say before arguing, “Jurisdictions with different conditions should have different gun laws; urban areas should not be governed by standards appropriate for rural areas. The District’s age-adjusted rate of firearms deaths—intentional and unintentional—is ‘significantly higher’ than the national rate and those of Maryland and Virginia. Moreover, approximately 75 percent of all homicides in the District involve firearms. The District, like Illinois, has a compelling interest in preventing the discharge of firearms in public, which clearly represents a serious risk to public safety, regardless of intent.”

“The Court should find that the District’s prohibition on the public carrying of firearms is constitutional, in that ‘it does not seriously impact a person’s ability to defend himself in the home, the Second Amendment’s core protection. It does not ban the quintessential weapon—the handgun—used for self-defense in the home. Nor does it prevent an individual from keeping a suitable weapon for protection in the home,'” the city argues, citing a recent ruling on Maryland’s assault weapon ban.

Scullin has given D.C. until October 22 to enact legislation that complies with the ruling or appeal. Attorney General Irv Nathan last week asked the court for more time.