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District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S.Ct. 2783, 171 L.Ed.2d 637, 76 USLW 4631, 08 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8060, 2008 Daily Journal D.A.R. 9613, 21 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 497

Facts

The case arose when Dick Heller, a special police officer in D.C., applied to register a handgun for home use but was denied due to the District's strict gun control laws. These laws prohibited the registration of handguns and required that firearms in the home be kept nonfunctional. Heller filed a lawsuit challenging these regulations on Second Amendment grounds, leading to a series of court decisions that ultimately reached the Supreme Court.

Respondent Dick Heller is a D.C. special police officer authorized to carry a handgun while on duty at the Thurgood Marshall Judiciary Building. He applied for a registration certificate for a handgun that he wished to keep at home, but the District refused.

Issue

Does the District of Columbia's prohibition on the possession of usable handguns in the home violate the Second Amendment to the Constitution?

Rule

The Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

Analysis

The Supreme Court analyzed the text and history of the Second Amendment, concluding that its prefatory clause does not limit the operative clause, which guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. The Court found that the District's total ban on handgun possession in the home and the requirement that firearms be kept nonfunctional violated this right, particularly in the context of self-defense.

The Court's interpretation is confirmed by analogous arms-bearing rights in state constitutions that preceded and immediately followed the Second Amendment.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court affirmed the D.C. Circuit's ruling, holding that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a handgun in the home for self-defense, and that the District's laws were unconstitutional.

The handgun ban and the trigger-lock requirement (as applied to self-defense) violate the Second Amendment.

Who won?

Dick Heller prevailed in the case because the Supreme Court recognized his individual right to possess a handgun for self-defense, ruling that the District's laws infringed upon this constitutional right.

Heller conceded at oral argument that the D.C. licensing law is permissible if it is not enforced arbitrarily and capriciously, the Court assumes that a license will satisfy his prayer for relief and does not address the licensing requirement.

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