COURT SCORES MAJOR VICTORY FOR GUN RIGHTS

Washington, DC (TLS). The Second Amendment was clarified and upheld when a D.C. Circuit Court panel ruled that the District of Columbia's gun control laws violate the U.S. Constitution.

The panel held that the Second Amendment protects the INDIVIDUAL'S right to keep and bear arms and that this right is not excluded to service in the militia. The Judges cited historic legal precedent in stating that gun rights were viewed by the Founders as serving a multi-purpose function, only one of which is being ready to serve in a militia when called. The right to keep and bear arms, according to the Founders, served as a mechanism for self-defense and as a means to fight the rule of a tyrannical government, should that need arise.

Here is an excerpt from the 75-page ruling:

'To summarize, we conclude that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That right existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution and was premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat from abroad). In addition, the right to keep and bear arms had the important and salutary civic purpose of helping to preserve the citizen militia. The civic purpose was also a political expedient for the Federalists in the First Congress as it served, in part, to placate their Antifederalist opponents. The individual right facilitated militia service by ensuring that citizens would not be barred from keeping the arms they would need when called forth for militia duty. Despite the importance of the Second Amendment's civic purpose, however, the activities it protects are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued or intermittent enrollment in the militia. As we have seen in many other constitutional cases, including decisions by the Ohio Supreme Court, the judges found that DC's gun laws amount to a complete prohibition on the lawful use of handguns for self-defense: The majority opinion also rejects the argument that the Second Amendment does not apply to the District of Columbia because it is not a State. And the majority opinion concludes, "Section 7-2507.02, like the bar on carrying a pistol within the home, amounts to a complete prohibition on the lawful use of handguns for self-defense. As such, we hold it unconstitutional."'

My friends, this is a monumental victory for the rights of individual citizens.

For a further review of the ruling, click here to go to Ohioans for Concealed Carry:
http://www.ohioccw.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=53

To read the full text of the Court panel's ruling, click here (pdf file):
http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200703/04-7041a.pdf