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Federal Appeals Court Rules D.C.'s Gun Ban is Unconstitutional

PARKER V. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, 04-7041a, March 9, 2007 (75 pages, PDF)

  • FindLaw: “A challenge was brought against District of Columbia gun control laws which bar the registration of handguns, the carrying of pistols without a license, and also require all lawfully owned firearms be kept unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock. A district court dismissed the complaint against the District based on a finding that the Second Amendment, at most, protects an individual’s right to bear arms for service in the Militia, and that the term “Militia” in the Second Amendment refers to an organized military body, such as a National Guard unit. The ruling is reversed, as the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, 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.”
  • Legal Times (free access): D.C. Circuit Strikes Down D.C. Gun Control Laws, by Tony Mauro, March 12, 2007
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