BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia “did the right thing” by setting the stage for filing of legal briefs and oral arguments in a challenge to the long-standing handgun ban in Washington, D.C.
The case, Parker v. District of Columbia, seeks to restore the right of District residents to have handguns and functional long guns in their homes. Under current regulation, handguns are banned, and rifles and shotguns must be disassembled.
Attorney Robert Levy, one of three attorneys on the case, announced Thursday that the D.C. Circuit Court had rejected a motion by the Washington, D.C. city government to dismiss the case, opening the way for the case to be heard. He is co-counsel with attorneys Alan Gura and Clark Neily.
“We are not completely out of the standing woods yet,” Levy said, adding that he expects a hearing schedule from the court within a few days.
“For too many years,” observed SAF founder Alan Gottlieb, “citizens of the nation’s capitol have had to check their Second Amendment rights, and right of self-defense, at the Washington, D.C city limits. Because of this ban, the city is a haven for criminals who enjoy a virtually risk-free environment because their victims cannot fight back.
“The crime rate in Washington, D.C. is proof positive that the ill-advised handgun ban has not worked,” he continued. “Stripping honest citizens of the ability to keep a handgun, or even an operable shotgun or rifle in their homes has not prevented a single violent crime. If anything, it has made the city even more dangerous for its law-abiding residents.”
Gottlieb condemned those who would defend and maintain the disastrous gun ban, including gun control organizations based in the city.
“The city administration and the gun control crowd would rather leave residents of the District defenseless than see their firearm civil rights restored, and admit they’ve been wrong,” Gottlieb stated. “We are glad that this case appears headed for a fair and full hearing before the court. After all, where is it more appropriate for citizens to exercise their rights under the Second Amendment than in the capitol of the country?”