Gun Ban Challenged in Supreme Court Brief

Lawyers challenging D.C.’s ban on possession of handguns and functional firearms filed their brief yesterday in the Supreme Court, defending a court ruling striking down the ban. Last year, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ban violates the Second Amendment.

The brief, written largely by Alan Gura and Bob Levy, is full of interesting stuff, describing how the Founding Fathers and American colonists viewed the right to bear arms (and its purpose and scope), how the Second Amendment came into being, and how people at the time of the Founding interpreted constitutional provisions (like whether the Second Amendment’s preamble about the importance of a militia limits the right to keep and bear arms). It also points out the many inconsistencies and contradictions in the arguments made by supporters of the D.C. gun ban.

We previously discussed the case here and here, and why the lower court ruling striking down the ban did not constitute “judicial activism” here and here.