Heritage Foundation: Why the D.C. Gun Ban Is Unconstitutional

Todd Gaziano, director of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, explains why D.C.'s extremely restrictive gun control laws are unconstitutional.

Related Research:
http://www.heritage.org/Research/LegalIssues/wm1851.cfm

Will the Second Amendment Be Upheld?

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."-Thomas Jefferson

The United States Supreme Court will hear opening remarks in the case of District of Columibia v. Heller tomorrow, March 18th. A Colorado University law professor, Scott Moss, believes this will be a seminal case that will finally decide whether the Second Amendment guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms applies to individuals or only to the States' right to form militias.

The case is that of a citizen of Washington, DC, Richard Heller, claiming a constitutional right to keep a weapon, specifically a hand-gun, for his personal protection. The District of Columbia has some of the most restictive laws regarding legal gun ownership of any municipality and have denied his application.

The case of the District of Columbia versus Heller not only will decide whether Washington, D.C., can keep its handgun ban, but ultimately will determine the fate of gun control laws across the country. Remarkably, this case is likely to be the first time the Supreme Court, in its over two centuries of interpreting the constitution, truly will have to decide, once and for all, whether the Second Amendment protects individual citizens’ rights to own guns or protects only states’ rights to maintain armed police forces and militias, writes Professor Moss.