FLASH – DC COURT OF APPEALS STRIKES DOWN GUN BAN!

In what may be the most earth-shattering case on the Second Amendment ever, a panel of three Appellate Judges has thrown out the D.C. gun ban, ruling once and for all that the Second Amendment Guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms.

During a congratulatory phone call between Buckeye Firearms Association Legislative Chair Ken Hanson and Plaintiff’s Attorney Alan Gura, Alan noted: “This was as broad and strong of an opinion as we could have hoped for.”

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Senior Judge Silverman’s majority opinion summarized as follows:

To summarize, we conclude that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That right existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution and was premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat from abroad). In addition, the right to keep and bear arms had the important and salutary civic purpose of helping to preserve the citizen militia. The civic purpose was also a political expedient for the Federalists in the First Congress as it served, in part, to placate their Antifederalist opponents. The individual right facilitated militia service by ensuring that citizens would not be barred from keeping the arms they would need when called forth for militia duty. Despite the importance of the Second Amendment’s civic purpose, however, the activities it protects are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual’s enjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued or intermittent enrollment in the militia.

Click here to download the entire ruling. (.pdf)

The Second Amendment Foundation has paid (and will continue to pay) a significant portion of the legal bills for this case. This success illustrates what is possible when people pool their money for a common cause under good leadership.

Click here to read the Second Amendment Foundation's press release.

FLASHBACK: D.C. handgun ban facing challenge, national implications bear on 2nd Am.