Supreme Court Strikes Down Washington Gun Ban

Posted by Hans Bader

The Supreme Court voted 5-to-4 to strike down Washington, D.C.’s municipal ban on handguns, ruling that the ban violated the Second Amendment, as I expected it would. 

Since most voters agree with the decision, politicians who earlier supported the D.C. gun ban are now flip-flopping to disavow their past support for it.

Critics of the ruling claim that it is “judicial activism,” a silly claim that I earlier debunked.   The Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy rebuts D.C.’s arguments in favor of the ban here.

I earlier explained why the Supreme Court should reject the argument that the right to bear arms is just a “collective right” possessed by state militias, rather than an individual right, and how D.C. residents seek guns in self-defense because of the D.C. government’s repeated failure to protect crime victims from violence and aggression.

The Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller upheld a federal appeals court ruling that likewise declared the D.C. gun ban unconstitutional. Much of the criticism of that ruling was hypocritical, as I earlier explained.

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06/26/2008 @ 11:43 am | Constitutional & Legal, Personal Liberty | Comments

3 Responses to “Supreme Court Strikes Down Washington Gun Ban”

  1. Posted by: Supreme Court Gun-Ban Ruling Buries “Collective Rights” Theory | OpenMarket.org - 06/27/2008

    [...] the Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia’s gun ban in a 5-to-4 vote in District of Columbia v. He….  What was most interesting about the decision was that all 9 Supreme Court justices, [...]

  2. Posted by: Supreme Court Gun-Ban Ruling Buries “Collective Rights” Theory | OpenMarket.org - 06/27/2008

    [...] the Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia’s gun ban in a 5-to-4 vote in District of Columbia v. He….  What was most interesting about the decision was that all 9 Supreme Court justices, [...]

  3. Posted by: Supreme Court Gun-Ban Ruling Buries “Collective Rights” Theory | OpenMarket.org - 06/27/2008

    [...] the Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia’s gun ban in a 5-to-4 vote in District of Columbia v. He….  What was most interesting about the decision was that all 9 Supreme Court justices, [...]

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