Ignoring the Supreme Court? D.C.'s new gun laws will be challenged

It appears our nations capital is ignoring the gun ruling made by our nations highest court.

From USA Today --

Under terms of the emergency law, residents must obtain a city-issued handgun permit and may keep handguns only in their homes for self-defense. The council will need to pass permanent legislation in 90 days.

The permits require every gun owner to pass a written safety test and vision exam, submit the weapon for ballistic testing to determine whether it has been used in a crime and offer proof of residency in the District.

The provisions still rank as some of the toughest in the nation. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the law, the NRA says, mandates that gun owners keep their weapons unloaded, disassembled or secured with trigger locks unless they face a "threat of immediate harm."

"The current D.C. proposal requires the complete cooperation of the criminal," NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said. "It would require the criminal to call and tell you when they plan to come and attack you." More...

Below is a list of some of the rules for the new D.C. Gun Law.

10 RULES OF LAW

Emergency legislation passed by the D.C. City Council for registering handguns requires that:

1. Applicants must be 21 years old. Those between 18 and 21 may qualify if they obtain notarized statements from parents or guardians who pledge to assume civil liability for damages.

2. Offenders with records of violent crime or weapons offenses are ineligible.

3. People under indictment for crimes of violence or weapons offenses are ineligible.

4. Applicants convicted of dangerous drug offenses, assault or threats of bodily harm within the previous five years are ineligible.

5. Those acquitted of any criminal charge by reason of insanity or declared chronic alcoholics by any court within the previous five years are ineligible.

6. Applicants who have been voluntarily or involuntarily committed to mental institutions within the previous five years are ineligible.

7. Applicants must be free of physical defects that would make gun possession unsafe.

8. People found negligent in firearms incidents causing death or injury are ineligible.

9. Applicants must pass a written test and vision exam.

10. Applicants must submit to fingerprinting. Cost: $35.

I don't have a problem with most of the 10 rules listed above. I do not even have a problem with registering handguns, as long as it is voluntary and not mandatory.

Whether D.C. likes it or not, a person has a God given right to protect their own life, the lives of their family and their property by any means necessary. Obviously along with this right comes the responsibility to prove you, your family or property were in imminent danger and sound judgement was used in executing these rights - and intruder!

I will take issue with where D.C. officials have thumbed their noses at the Supreme Court and tries skirting their recent landmark ruling. Whereas D.C. should be cracking down on illegal guns, they continue targeting legal gun owners.

In confirming our 2nd Amendment right to own guns, the Supreme Court said this right is not absolute and some restrictions are in order. But the nature of this ruling clearly shows that the restrictions cannot be so restrictive that in effect they are a gun ban by proxy or denies a legal gun owner the same.

Under the new D.C. laws - a gun owner MUST keep the "weapons unloaded, disassembled or secured with trigger locks unless they face a "threat of immediate harm." This restriction denies the gun owner the immediate use of their weapon and ability to protect life, limb and property in a moments notice.

I fully feel that firearms should be kept unloaded or a trigger lock should be used. My feelings change when that weapon's intended purpose is safety. A firearm being used for safety needs to be at the ready, not kept in a condition or manner that would render the handgun useless.

Jeff Heller, the man responsible for bringing the original suit that led to the Supreme Court's striking down of D.C.'s 32 year ban on guns, states he will be bringing another lawsuit fighting these new restrictions.