D.C. Gun Carry Ban Ruled Unconstitutional

Well now. As they say, “This is news.”

On Saturday, July 26, 2014, Judge Frederick Scullin Jr. ruled that the city government and police chief of Washington, D.C. may not prevent citizens from carrying guns outside of their homes “unless and until such time as the District of Columbia adopts a licensing mechanism consistent with constitutional standards enabling people to exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms.”

Now, if you’re like me, you feel that “a licensing mechanism consistent with constitutional standards” is an impossibility. After all, our Constitutional rights are not granted by the United States Constitution; they are merely protected by it. But I’m not a lawyer and the government never listens to me anyhow. (Except when the NSA reads my emails… but I digress.)

The legal battle to reach this point was hard-fought and long-lived, and likely isn’t over yet since the defendants (District of Columbia and [Police Chief] Cathy Lanier) will likely appeal the decision.

Filed by five plaintiffs in 2009, Palmer v. District of Columbia was argued twice, the latest being in 2012. Lead Second Amendment Foundation attorney Alan Gura had made two requests to the federal appeals court to force the judge to rule in this case.

In a Fox News article, Gura is quoted as saying, “We won. I’m very pleased with the decision that the city can’t forbid the exercise of a fundamental constitutional right.”

Although I’m saddened that anyone, anywhere in the USA has to fight in order to bar the government from stepping on our rights, it’s a reality that we must live with, and this decision seems to be a big step in the right direction.

I’m sure you will find some reporters and others who will bemoan this common-sense ruling and who will predict wild shootouts in the street as a result of it. But those of us who have actually been paying attention over the last few decades know that is false, and that citizens with guns make the streets safer.

A deep bow and heartfelt thanks to Second Amendment Foundation for fighting this and other legal fights for the benefit of all free men and women.

If you’d like to read the decision, check here.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.