The D.C. Handgun Ban: Give Your Take

| Print Post This | Like (0) | Comments (1)

THE U.S. SUPREME COURT is set to hear oral arguments Tuesday on the future of the District's ban on handguns — a case that could alter the way the government interprets the Second Amendment.

"This may be one of the only cases in our lifetime when the Supreme Court is going to be interpreting the meaning of an important provision of the Constitution unencumbered by precedent,'' Randy E. Barnett, a constitutional scholar at the Georgetown University Law Center, told The Post's Robert Barnes. "And that's why there's so much discussion on the original meaning of the Second Amendment.''

In an editorial today, The Post said that even if the justices interpret the Second Amendment as guaranteeing an individual right to gun ownership, "they can and should allow lawmakers maximum flexibility to enact reasonable regulation. In our view, that flexibility should include the District's law, which is aimed at taking the most dangerous guns off the streets of what was once one of the nation's most dangerous cities."

How the justices will come down on the District's gun law is the subject of today's Poll Center question: "Do you think the Supreme Court will uphold the District's ban on handguns?" Click on this link to vote and join an already growing conversation on the topic.

— GB

» "D.C.'s Gun Ban Gets Day in Court" [WaPo]
» "Editorial: The D.C. Gun Case" [WaPo]