Sadly, though, this position was taken by only two of the three judges in the case.

A federal appeals court overturned the District of Columbia's long-standing handgun ban Friday, rejecting the city's argument that the Second Amendment right to bear arms applied only to militias.

In a 2-1 decision, the judges held that the activities protected by the Second Amendment are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued intermittent enrollment in the militia.

The court also ruled the D.C. requirement that registered firearms be kept unloaded, disassembled and under trigger lock was unconstitutional.

Frighteningly enough, one judge did not simply want to allow wholesale violations of the Second Amendment – she effectively sought to strip the residents of the protections of the Bill of Rights!

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

Given that the Bill of Rights was initially designed as a check upon CONGRESSIONAL power, and that the DC city government is a creation of Congress and all its actions are subject to review/veto by Congress, the provisions of the Second Amendment actually are MORE applicable to the District than to the states (where it must be bootstrapped through the Fourteenth Amendment). For her to make such an argument is clear evidence of her fundamental incompetence for the bench.

Additional news coverage here.

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Posted by: Greg at 09:48 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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