SCOTUSblog has the details, but apparently, Washington, D.C. city officials want to challenge the ruling of the D.C. Circuit Court that a city handgun ban was unconstitutional.
I discussed the original decision here.
From SCOTUSblog:
The petition would have been due Aug. 7, but city officials said Monday that they would ask Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., for a 30-day extension of time to file the case. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and city Attorney General Linda Singer disclosed the appeal plan at a press conference, along with local Police Chief Cathy Lanier. (A news release announcing the action can be found here ) The Mayor said: "We have made the determination that this law can and should be defended and we are willing to take our case to the highest court in the land to protect the city's residents. Our handgun law has saved countless lives -- keeping guns out of the hands of those who would hurt others or themselves."
I'm not sure if Police Chief Lanier is smoking the same stuff as former Mayor Marion Barry, but she must be on something to say the handgun ban kept guns out of the hands of bad guys. Given that Washington, D.C. ranked fourth in homicides in 2005, it sounds like the bad guys had no trouble at all continuing to commit crimes.
I'm anxious to see what the Supreme Court will say about this case. There's a clear conflict among the circuit courts, and it would be interesting to see what legal loophole the Court may use not to decide whether the 2d Amendment applies to individuals rather than state militias.
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