[apillar]

"It's a big victory for those who overwhelmingly believe that we need fewer guns on our streets, not more,"

No it's the opinion of one judge, this was always meant to be a test case and was going to be appealed by one side or the other no matter what the result.

[blau993]

You are right on that one. Judge Walton was not a fortunate draw at the District Court level, but, given the composition of the DC District Court, the odds of finding a judge who would be sympathetic toward this case were never good.

The DC Circuit, however, is a whole other ball game. It has a number (perhaps even a majority -- I haven't done the count lately) of good conservative judges. This decision will surely be appealed, and the next big event will be the assignment of the three-judge panel who will hear this appeal in the DC Circuit.

The NRA would do well to partner at this level with some good conservative Washington lawyers who know this Court and are experienced at positioning an issue for the best result. I would like to see some of the good people from the Federalist Society get involved.

This is an important case that can still come out the right way if it is handled intelligently. With all due respect to some of my fellow FReepers who are highly passionate about Second Amendment issues, this is the time for serious lawyering, not partisan cheering. A reversal by the DC Circuit of a decision taking a collectivist view of the Second Amendment would be a huge win for the RTKBA side.