On April 2, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted the D.C.’s motion to voluntarily dismiss an appeal of the ruling that held the District’s ban on carrying a firearm outside the home for self-defense was unconstitutional. The District’s decision not to continue the appeal ends one of the last outright bans on carrying firearms in the United States.
While this marks the end of the District’s total ban, those wishing to lawfully carry firearms in D.C. still have a long way to go before all law-abiding individuals have a legal means of exercising their right to bear arms in the District. Shortly after the ban was held unconstitutional last July, the D.C. council adopted a temporary law that makes it all but impossible to get a license to carry a concealed pistol. A nearly identical version of that temporary law is still in effect, and a permanent version is under review by Congress and set to become law on May 30.
Plaintiffs in the case have attempted to enjoin the newly enacted D.C. carry law as contrary to the court’s order that required D.C. to create a licensing system that complies with the Second Amendment, but the court has yet to rule on the injunction. Perhaps the best hope for recognition of the right to bear arms in the District was introduced in Congress last week by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and U.S. Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). “The Second Amendment Enforcement Act of 2015” includes a “shall-issue licensing” system that would only allow the District to deny a license to individuals who fail a background check or who do not satisfy other objective criteria. (See related story.)
Please contact your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative and urge them to cosponsor and support “The Second Amendment Enforcement Act of 2015.”
You can contact your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative by phone at (202) 224-3121 or by using our "Write Your Lawmakers" tool at www.NRAILA.org.
D.C. Gives Up Defending Total Ban on Carrying Firearms, Shifts to Defense of Near-Total Ban
Friday, April 3, 2015
Friday, June 16, 2017
It is refreshing to finally see some common sense coming out of a court in NJ, as the state is notoriously known for its illogical and Draconian gun laws that do little more than make ...
Friday, June 16, 2017
In the United States there have been a handful of high-profile incidents in which an employer has terminated an employee following the employee’s use of a gun in self-defense while at the workplace. In recent ...
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Tomorrow, the House Administration Committee is scheduled to consider House Bill 222.
Monday, June 19, 2017
Tomorrow, June 20, several Second Amendment-related bills are scheduled to be heard in the House Committee on Federalism and Interstate Relations. Please contact the committee members in support of the following pro-gun bills!
Friday, June 16, 2017
In March, we reported on a series of restrictive policies governing firearms that had been approved by the governing body of the well-known networking and service club, Rotary International. This week came a welcome turn ...
