The announcement from the Plaintiff/Respondent:
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hear the case of Heller v. District of Columbia, and decide whether the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the right to own guns. At issue is a 31-year-old Washington, D.C. law banning handguns and requiring that all shotguns and rifles be kept unloaded and either trigger-locked or disassembled at all times. There is no exception for self-defense.
Alan Gura, lead counsel for the Heller plaintiffs said, “The Bill of Rights does not end at the District of Columbia’s borders, and it includes the right to keep and bear arms. After three decades of failure trying to control firearms in the District, it’s time for law-abiding city residents to be able to defend themselves in their homes. We are confident the Supreme Court will vindicate that right in Washington, D.C., and across the nation.”
Coverage at SCOTUSblog here.
Our Federalist Society had Bob Levy of Cato come in to speak last week on the D.C. gun case.
The standing issue was intersting. Both the NRA and Cato started with a combined total of 12 plaintiffs. The courts found that 11 didn’t have standing. The requirements in the end appeared to be that (1) you had to reside in D.C.; (2) you had to own a gun (3) that didn’t reside in D.C.; (4) you have to have a title to said gun; (4) you had to meet any other of the grandfather clause requirements of the current D.C. gun statute; (5) you had to have petitioned under the grandfather clause to bring your gun into D.C.; and (6) you had to have been denied or put off for an unreasonable amount of time. Or something like that…
They’re lucky they were even able to find a plaintiff!