Op-Ed: D.C. Handgun Ban

By John R. Lott. Jr.
FOXNews.com

Is banning handguns a "reasonable regulation"? The District of
Columbia certainly hopes that the Supreme Court thinks so.

D.C. filed a brief last week asking the U.S. Supreme Court to let it
keep its 1976 handgun ban, but how the city argued its case was what
was most surprising. Instead of spending a lot of time arguing over
what the constitution means, the city largely made a public policy
argument. D.C. argues that whatever one thinks about the Second
Amendment guaranteeing people a right to own guns, banning handguns
should be allowed for public safety reasons.

Claiming that the Second Amendment doesn't protect individual rights
might be a tough sell, but the city's public safety argument will be
at least as tough. After the ban, D.C.'s murder rate only once fell
below what it was in 1976. From 1977 to 2003, there were only two
years when D.C.'s violent crime rate fell below the rate in 1976.
After the ban, DC’s murder and violent rates rose relative to
Maryland and Virginia as well as relative to other cities with more
than 500,000 people.

Click here to read the entire editorial at FOXNews.com.