http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=azTOCL.ZiDGM&refer=us


Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down D.C. Handgun Ban (Update2)

By Cary O'Reilly

March 9 (Bloomberg) -- A U.S. appeals court struck down a three-decade-old
District of Columbia law that bans residents from keeping a handgun in
their homes, saying the Constitution's Second Amendment protects an
individual right to bear arms.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Washington also threw out
a district law requiring registered firearms to be kept disassembled or
under trigger lock.

It's the first time a federal appeals court has struck down a gun-control
measure on Second Amendment grounds. Nelson Lund, a constitutional law
professor at George Mason University in neighboring Virginia, said an
appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is "very likely."

"This is clearly an extremely significant ruling," Lund said. "The District
of Columbia had some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the
country."

The appeals court said it didn't consider the "more difficult issue" of
whether the district can bar people from carrying handguns in public or in
cars.

The Second Amendment says, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to
the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear
arms, shall not be infringed."

Lawyers for the District of Columbia, which banned residents from owning
handguns in 1976 for public safety reasons, argued that the amendment
guarantees the right to bear arms only for members of a militia.

'Bear Arms'

The appeals court rejected that argument in today's 2-1 ruling.

"There are too many instances of 'bear arms' indicating private use to
conclude that the drafters intended only a military sense," Senior Judge
Laurence Silberman wrote for himself and Judge Thomas Griffith.

Judge Karen Henderson dissented, saying that because D.C. isn't a state,
the Second Amendment doesn't apply to it. Silberman was nominated to the
court by President Ronald Reagan, while Henderson was nominated by
President George H.W. Bush and Griffith was nominated by President George
W. Bush.

Most U.S. appeals courts to consider the issue have said the Second
Amendment preserves state militias and doesn't protect individual rights.

The exception is the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit, which said in
non-binding language in 2001 that individuals have Second Amendment rights.
Nonetheless, the 5th Circuit said the defendant in that case was properly
convicted of possessing a gun in violation of a restraining order.

Government Position

The Bush administration, in papers filed at the Supreme Court in 2002,
agreed that the defendant in the 5th Circuit case was properly convicted.
The government also argued, though, that the Second Amendment protects
individual rights, reversing a decades-old Justice Department position that
the provision was designed to let states sponsor militias. The Supreme
Court didn't hear the 5th Circuit case.

The Supreme Court hasn't taken up a case directly addressing the Second
Amendment in almost 70 years and has avoided several opportunities to do
so, according to Nicholas Johnson, a law professor at Fordham University in
New York.

"The court may be more willing to take up this case now than 20 years ago,"
when the issue was more controversial, Johnson said in an interview. "There
has been a massive and dramatic shift" in political sentiment away from gun
control, he said.

Clarence Thomas

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a separate opinion in a 1997 case that "a
growing body of scholarly commentary indicates that the 'right to keep and
bear arms' is, as the amendment's text suggests, a personal right." In that
case, the court used other constitutional grounds to rule that the federal
government couldn't force state officials to conduct background checks on
gun purchasers.

The National Rifle Association, which campaigns against gun control laws
across the U.S., hailed the ruling.

"We think the court made the right decision," said NRA spokesman Andrew
Arulanandam. "We've always thought and maintained that the residents of the
District of Columbia are just as equal as residents elsewhere and ought to
enjoy Second Amendment freedoms."

Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty scheduled a news conference later today to
discuss the ruling.

The case was filed in 2004 by six residents of the district. Shelly Parker,
Tracey Ambeau, Tom G. Palmer and George Lyon wanted to legally possess
handguns in their homes for self-defense. Gillian St. Lawrence owns a
registered shotgun and was required by D.C. law to keep it disassembled and
hindered by a trigger lock.

Dick Heller, a D.C. special police officer permitted to carry a handgun as
a security guard at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, was denied a
registration certificate to own one in his home.

The case is Parker v. D.C., 04-7041, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia Circuit (Washington).

To contact the reporter on this story: Cary O'Reilly in Washington at
caryoreilly@... .

Last Updated: March 9, 2007 14:20 EST