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Posted on 03/30/2010 10:01:19 PM PDT by neverdem
| Court Dismisses "Heller II" Case: D.C. Gun Registration, "Assault Weapon" Ban, and "Large" Magazine Ban Upheld |
| Friday, March 26, 2010 |
|
Today, District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, dismissed Heller v. District of Columbia, NRA's case challenging D.C.'s prohibitive firearm registration requirements, and its bans on "assault weapons" and "large capacity ammunition feeding devices." Mr. Heller was, of course, lead plaintiff in District of Columbia v. Heller, decided by the Supreme Court in 2008. Judge Urbina rejected Heller's assertion that D.C.'s registration and gun and magazine bans should be subject to a "strict scrutiny" standard of review, under which they could survive only if they are justified by a compelling government interest, are narrowly tailored to achieve that interest, and are the least restrictive means of achieving that interest. In support of that rejection, Urbina opined that in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) the Supreme Court "did not explicitly hold that the Second Amendment right is a fundamental right," and he adopted the argument of dissenting Justices in that case, that the Court's upholding of a law prohibiting possession of firearms by felons implied that the Court did not consider that laws infringing the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms should be subject to a strict scrutiny standard of review. Judge Urbina also rejected D.C.'s contention that its laws should be required to pass only a "reasonableness test," which would "require the court to uphold a law regulating firearms so long as the legislature had 'articulated proper reasons for acting, with meaningful supporting evidence,' and the measure did 'not interfere with the "core right" the Second Amendment protects by depriving the people of reasonable means to defend themselves in their homes.'" Instead, Urbina purported to subject D.C.'s registration, gun ban, and magazine ban to an "intermediate scrutiny" level of review, in which he first considered whether those laws "implicate the core Second Amendment right" and, if they do, whether they are "substantially related to an important governmental interest." Urbina agreed that D.C.'s firearm registration scheme implicates the "core Second Amendment right," which, based upon the Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), he described as the right to have a firearm at home for protection. But, he noted that the Court "suggested in Heller that such requirements [as registration] are not unconstitutional as a general matter," and he concluded that D.C. had adequately articulated a compelling governmental interest in promulgating its registration scheme. Based upon the Supreme Court's statement in Heller, that machine guns might not fall within the scope of the Second Amendment because they are not commonly owned, and relying heavily on error-ridden testimony provided by D.C. and the Brady Campaign about the use of semi-automatic firearms in crime, Urbina concluded that D.C.'s "assault weapon" and "large" magazine bans do not infringe the right to have a firearm at home for protection. Regrettably, Urbina uncritically accepted all of the "factual" claims in the committee report of the D.C. City Council and ignored hard evidence that "assault weapons" and "large" magazines are in "common use," the standard Heller adopted. As we have detailed in other Alerts, of course, such firearms and their standard magazines holding over 10 rounds are owned by millions of Americans and their numbers are rising rapidly with every week that passes. Stay tuned. Word about whether Judge Urbina's decision will be appealed, or whether a legislative remedy will be sought in Congress, or both, will certainly be forthcoming. |
The Fed judge is going to get smacked down and hard. The SCOTUS will make an example.
This so-called “judge” is a loon. His goofy crap will be appealed to a real court with real judges and his nonsense will be overturned.
Bump and ping.
This is a good thing right? Get this to the Supreme Court so that it can be decided correctly. These need to all get to the SCOTUS before one of the 4 conservative justices or Kennedy are replaced on the court by Obama.
This case shows how Heller was a bad ruling.
The SCOTUS opened the door for scores of lawsuits and litigation. They SHOULD have ruled that the 2nd provides a right to firearms ownership.
What a tool!
Yea, the founders put it in the Bill of Rights, because it was so minor and unimportant.
Bastid.
This guy is definitely hitting the Marion Barry crack pipe a little to hard.
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It's the ruling the goa wanted. All the other gun groups wanted the broader view so we wouldn't have to sue countless times for each and every law. The NRA is involved in half a dozen lawsuits since Heller.
How much money are you spending on lawyers?
Wow, a new judicial standard. If you don't agree with the winning side of a Supreme Court decision, just adopt the losing side's argument.
This needs to be smacked down by the USSC. This is lunacy.
He's probably hoping that King Hussein the First gets another couple of justices on there before then.
This won’t take long. The NRA is probably got briefs ready to be filed. McDonald vs Chicago will likely strike this buffoon’s ruling and similar laws across the nation.
No surprise, really - the standard approach of Lefties who don’t particularly care for a law - up to and including anything written in the Bill of Rights - is simply to pretend it doesn’t exist.
Our wonderful, new president has set the tone by simply ignoring constitutional restrictions on executive power; and he has been admirably aided and abetted by a compliant and morally bankrupt congress.
We are now living in a Banana Republic, in which the rule of law is at best a matter of ridicule.
Sign of the times.
“If you don’t agree with the winning side of a Supreme Court decision, just adopt the losing side’s argument.”
It’s not unusual for federal district and appelate courts to thumb their Marxist noses at Supreme Court decisions that favor individual liberty and make rulings based on opinions of far left lunatics. Then the USSC has to revisit its previous rulings and smack down the lower courts. (See Rapanos v US as one example)
It’s situations like this where congress must use its impeachment powers and remove these black-robed communists from the bench.
Pretty sad statement for a nation that was originally founded on the principles of individual liberty.
We have fallen far.
“Stay tuned. Word about whether Judge Urbina’s decision will be appealed, or whether a legislative remedy will be sought in Congress, or both, will certainly be forthcoming.”
They MUST appeal. The current Congress will just dance to Obama’s fiddle and we know what that means. If it goes to SCOTUS< they have a good chance of winning.
This guy’s decision is no surprise considering where he is coming from.
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