Breaking: Heller Files New Gun Case, Takes Aim at Semiauto Ban
Dick Anthony Heller, who successfully challenged the District's handgun ban in a landmark Supreme Court decision, is again suing the District of Columbia, LL has learned.
According to a complaint obtained by LL, Heller, along with co-plaintiffs Absalom M. Jordan Jr., and Amy McVey, are taking particular aim at the effective ban of semiautomatic pistols by the District's gun regulations, which in essence ban all semiautomatic weapons as "machine guns."
The lawsuit also takes two other exceptions to the District's new gun regs. One is that the District's registration process is unduly "onerous," citing specifically the legislatively unrestricted fees that can be levied on a gun registrant. The other count holds that the District's doctrine that a gun can only be loaded in the presence of a "reasonably perceived threat of immediate harm" constitutes a unreasonable infringement of handgun owners' rights under the Heller decision.
The suit asks the court to issue injunctions that would (a) allow semiautomatic weapons that hold fewer than 12 rounds, (b) order the District to register handguns without a ballistics test, and (c) order the District not to enforce the "reasonably perceived threat" part of the handgun law.
When the new gun regulations were announced earlier this month, acting attorney general Peter Nickles told reporters he was certain that new lawsuits would be filed in response.
More to come.
UPDATE, 4:45 P.M.: Jordan says he attempted to register a .22-caliber Smith & Wesson Model 45 target pistol but was turned away by police. Had he actually brought the gun to police headquarters to register it, he says, "the police officer who was there told me they would have arrested me."
That weapon is one he had registered in the District until the mid-1970s, when the District's handgun ban was put into place. Since them he says, he's kept it and other weapons outside the District in safekeeping. Jordan did successfully submit a revolver for registration.
Like several observers, Jordan compares the District's perceived reticence to comply with the courts with such tactics during the civil rights movement. "This reminds me of massive resistance. It reminds me of Orval Faubus, Lester Maddox with a baseball bat. It reminds me of George Wallace."
UPDATE, 4:55 P.M.: Here is the complaint [PDF].
UPDATE, 5:43 P.M.: Nickles says the suit was "no surprise."
Nickles says there is a "fundamental conflict" between Heller & Co. and the the Supreme Court's decision. "They don't like the idea of having any standards of when you can load the gun for self-defense," Nickles says of the plaintiffs. The decision, he says, "didn't say you can have a handgun loaded in the home in the event you might have a feeling to use it for whatever."
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4:30 pm
Geez,
DC has just got to get their act together on this. Whether you favor the ban or not, DC is going to loose. I'd rather avoid paying for any more lawsuits or invite congressional interference. Come on Fenty & co. You lost. Get over it and lets move on.
4:53 pm
I'm already tired of Heller. I should've known he'd be a publicity hound when the pictures of him signing autographs outside the Supreme Court came out.
5:23 pm
I sincerely hope House Resolution 1331 can be brought to a vote on the floor. D.C. is WAY out of line, they have not just thumbed their nose at the Supreme Court, they have given them AND the U.S. Constitution the middle finger. Bob Smith above is right, D.C. and Nickles have almost cried out for Congressional decision-making on this issue. I think it requisite for these representatives of the District that their shoe size and I.Q. on Constitutional law must be equal. They are doing a horrible disservice to the residents of D.C. and should be tarred and feathered next election. In the interim, the stakes for NOT following the ruling and order in DC v Heller are now much greater. If necessary, they will be told by Congress what they should have done in the first place. Go, Dick, go! It is wonderful to see a true patriot American in a virtual sea of dumb.
5:26 pm
I'm glad Heller is doing this - the DC government's emergency legislation on this was a big middle finger to the Supreme Court and law-abiding citizens that want to own a firearm.
And, to second Bob Smith's comments, this is a total waste of taxpayer money on the part of the city - they're going to lose, they know it, but I guess they wanted to make political hay.
6:36 pm
All your handguns are belong to me!!!!!
7:18 pm
Will said he is tired of Heller, and that he is a publicity hound for signing autographs.
If you are tired of Heller, tell the D.C. government to quit both noodling around with the Supreme Court and standing in the school house door.
12:02 pm
Why does DC government even have the power to do this to the District's residents? Doesn't their childish response to the Supreme Court (not to mention the massive graft and corruption) argue for a rescision of home rule?
12:37 pm
Those berating Mayor Fenty, his lapdog attorney Nickles, and the city council for their lack of Constitutional knowledge are wrong. These sorry excuses for government officials aren't ignorant of the Constitution. Rather, they just totally and arrogantly lack any respect for the Constitution or the people they are supposedly elected to serve.
Nickels "expects" to be back in court. Of course he does. He knows the "new" law is unConstitutional. He also knows that it will cost tens of thousands of dollars in tax money, money that will go to his lawyer friends, for the city to defend their illegal law. What does he care? He makes money of the subjects of the D.C. government and will probably be retired and rich before the issue is settled.
5:59 pm
I find it ironic that DC classify semi automatic handguns that feed from the bottom as machine guns, then arm the police department with these same "machine guns".
The Cheif of Police, Mayor and Council Members and other elitist need to pull their heads out of the sand and realize that the common citizen has as much right to defend themselve with the same type weapons they have.
2:57 am
The FBI should arrest Mayor Fenty, his lapdog attorney Nickles, and the city council for this Civil Rights violation.
2:58 am
Civil Rights Statutes
Federal Civil Rights Statutes
Title 18, U.S.C., Section 241 - Conspiracy Against Rights
Title 18, U.S.C., Section 242 - Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law
Title 18, U.S.C., Section 245 - Federally Protected Activities
11:55 pm
You know, I really wonder what happens when Government itself, in this case DC, breaks the law.
How can Washington,DC defy and ignore the law as decided by the US Supreme Court?
How can Free people protect themselves when their own local Government defies the National Government?
How close are we to anarchy?
2:45 pm
This is a despotic and totalitarian government. While innocent, law-abiding citizens are being killed in the District (see an example below), DC residents are powerless to protect themselves.
http://www.nbc4.com/news/16583220/detail.html
The DC Government's position, i.e. "More guns, of any kind, will lead to more gun violence", is flawed at best. Criminals have a steady stream of illegal weapons flowing over the borders from Maryland and Virginia, and weren't generally seen to observe DC's handgun ban, even BEFORE Heller's suit won through at the U.S. Supreme Court. The other obvious solution- massively overhauling the DC Police, has been ongoing for over 20 years with no success.
If DC can't combat the crime, and is unable to protect its tax-paying citizens, then it should allow them the basic right of self-defense. Message to Fenty & co.: that means: semi-automatic pistols, capable of 12+ cartridges per magazine, that feed ammunition from removable, bottom-feeding magazines, and can be secured loaded, in the home of any reasonably trained and law-abiding citizen.
11:12 am
Time for the Court to appoint a special master over DC for firearms... I'm thinking Wayne LaPierre would be a good choice, don't you?