Court Upholds D.C. Gun Law

A federal judge upheld the District of Columbia's 28 year old gun control law on Wednesday, rejecting a legal challenge from a group of citizens backed by the National Rifle Association.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton dismissed a lawsuit in which the plaintiffs contended that the law violated their Second Amendment right to own guns. The D.C. law prohibits ownership or possession of handguns and requires that others, such as shotguns, be kept unloaded, disassembled or equipped with trigger locks.

In a 64-page opinion, Walton ruled that the Second Amendment is not a broad-based right of gun ownership.

"the Second Amendment does not confer an individual a right to possess firearms. Rather, the Amendment's objective is to ensure the vitality of state militias," Walton wrote.

The NRA's lawsuit is toast. That leaves two separate forces attacking the handgun ban in DC: Parker vs DC (sponsored by the Cato Institute) and some Congressional legislation introduced about the same time as the NRA lawsuit that is likely going nowhere.