Federal Judge Rules DC is Liable for Post-Heller Wrongful Firearm Arrests

[old lady new shooter]

Always heartening to see a clearly-reasoned pro 2A ruling:

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/f...ble-for-post-heller-wrongful-firearm-arrests/

Federal Judge Rules Washington, DC is Liable for Post-Heller Wrongful Firearm Arrests
By
Dan Zimmerman
-
September 30, 2021

Dick Heller is probably laughing to himself today. Late yesterday, US District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that Washington, D.C. is liable for six wrongful arrests made in the years after the D.C. vs Heller Supreme Court decision was handed down. The individuals in question were arrested between 2012 and 2014 for carrying handguns in public.

The city, which had the strictest gun control laws in the nation, didn’t like the Court’s ruling and enacted new restrictions on carrying firearms in the capital.


From the Washington Post . . .

The District enacted new restrictions on openly carrying firearms in the city, but a federal judge in July 2014 and an appeals court in July 2017 again struck down regulations requiring residents to show “proper reason” to do so, such as a fear of injury or transporting valuables. The 2014 ruling also barred the city from enforcing carrying restrictions against people “based solely on the fact that they are nonresidents.”

The city subsequently repealed statutes criminalizing possession of firearms not registered in D.C., possession of ammunition by people without a D.C.-registered firearm and otherwise barring possession by nonresidents.​

The city claimed the Second Amendment violating laws were necessary given the city’s “gun violence” problem and it couldn’t have known it was violating anyone’s rights until the post-Heller laws were struck down. Lamberth didn’t buy that argument.

Instead, Lamberth ruled, laws banning carrying firearms in public and nonresidents from registering firearms, and permitting the arrest of nonresidents for carrying weapons or ammunition without a license, “go the core of the Second Amendment.” The judge said the amendment preserves the “right of responsible citizens to carry firearms for personal self-defense beyond the home, subject to long-standing restrictions,” quoting the 2017 opinion, Wrenn v. District of Columbia.

“The District violated the plaintiffs’ Second Amendment rights by arresting them, detaining them, prosecuting them, and seizing their guns based on an unconstitutional set of D.C. laws,” Lamberth wrote.​

The ruling covered six individuals, but as many as 4500 people were arrested and 1900 prosecuted by the city during the years the laws were in place, so expect more claims for damages.

 

[armoredman]

Nice!

 

[Deanimator]

Like Chicago, the messed with the bull and got the horn.

Hopefully, NYC will eventually be the nail in the coffin of "may issue".

 

[jarhead127]

Wow, makes my day!

 

[Speedo66]

That's nice, except DC is on a Federal umbilical cord and we as taxpayers in any local will be paying for substantiated damage claims there.

 

[Ivy Mike]

That's nice, except DC is on a Federal umbilical cord and we as taxpayers in any local will be paying for substantiated damage claims there.

we could always make DC a state.

 

[herrwalther]

we could always make DC a state.

That would do far more harm to national politics than good. The framers made DC a separate entity on purpose so the federal government would not have sway as a "state" in Congress.

 

[theotherwaldo]

Yeah, we could turn the city of Washington into a state and put the nation's capitol somewhere else - possibly somewhere gun-friendly... .

 

[MEHavey]

Federal Judge Rules Washington, DC is Liable for Post-Heller Wrongful Firearm Arrests

Like all rulings before this (judge, court, SCOTUS...
They will ignore it.


.

 

[herrwalther]

Yeah, we could turn the city of Washington into a state and put the nation's capitol somewhere else - possibly somewhere gun-friendly... .

Not a chance. The same people that are advocating DC become a state want to keep the US capital where it is. There is little support outside of these pundits to make DC a state. And far fewer that would want the Capital moved in order to make it Constitutional. Making DC a state would give anti-gunners more power over national politics.

 

[Craig_AR]

we could always make DC a state.

Nope, do the same with it that was done with the Virginia contribution to the original federal district: give it back to Maryland to become a new county in Maryland. That is how Arlington County in Virginia came about. You can see the original diamond-shaped federal district outline on a local map by looking at Arlington County and DC across the Potomac from each other.

 

[theotherwaldo]

-Then maybe we should turn the city of Washington back over to Maryland and/or Virginia and set up a national capitol elsewhere.

Edit: Got distracted by a customer and forgot to post.
Still, to minds with the same good ides... .

 

[CapnMac]

we could always make DC a state.

Mind, that would involve having to carve part of Maryland out of their sovereign borders.
And, really, would require a change in the Constitution, in two aspects.

 

[Poper]

Like all rulings before this (judge, court, SCOTUS...
They will ignore it.


.

Probably.....

 

[Ivy Mike]

That would do far more harm to national politics than good. The framers made DC a separate entity on purpose so the federal government would not have sway as a "state" in Congress.

yeah, but its not the 18th century anymore. Almost nobody lived in DC at that time. Now it has more American Citizens than a number of states. My other suggestion would be to make the District nothing more than our national buildings and the land they sit on. The Capitol, various public office buildings, the white house, national monuments, Smithsonian, etc. Those are the ONLY things in DC. The rest just reverts to being Maryland and Virginia.

 

[Ivy Mike]

Not a chance. The same people that are advocating DC become a state want to keep the US capital where it is. There is little support outside of these pundits to make DC a state. And far fewer that would want the Capital moved in order to make it Constitutional. Making DC a state would give anti-gunners more power over national politics.

That's a poor argument for ensuring that ~700k Americans don't have full representation in Congress. And the House recently passed a bill to grant statehood to D.C. There is more support for it than you are letting on.

 

[old lady new shooter]

Like Chicago, the messed with the bull and got the horn.

Hopefully, NYC will eventually be the nail in the coffin of "may issue".

Please G-d.

 

[old lady new shooter]

That's nice, except DC is on a Federal umbilical cord and we as taxpayers in any local will be paying for substantiated damage claims there.

You're right but they waste so much of our money already, this will be a drop in the bucket. Too bad the ruling didn't include a stipulation that the payments have to come out of local property taxes or something.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

we could always make DC a state.

Nope. Don't wanna go there, either in reality or in this thread.

 

[old lady new shooter]

yeah, but its not the 18th century anymore. Almost nobody lived in DC at that time. Now it has more American Citizens than a number of states. My other suggestion would be to make the District nothing more than our national buildings and the land they sit on. The Capitol, various public office buildings, the white house, national monuments, Smithsonian, etc. Those are the ONLY things in DC. The rest just reverts to being Maryland and Virginia.

This I could go along with.

 

[FROGO207]

Well if they don't listen and obey we should not listen or obey what they say either. Works for me.
Hopefully this will be acted upon and things made good again. At least we can hope so!

 

[herrwalther]

yeah, but its not the 18th century anymore. Almost nobody lived in DC at that time. Now it has more American Citizens than a number of states. My other suggestion would be to make the District nothing more than our national buildings and the land they sit on. The Capitol, various public office buildings, the white house, national monuments, Smithsonian, etc. Those are the ONLY things in DC. The rest just reverts to being Maryland and Virginia.

That's a poor argument for ensuring that ~700k Americans don't have full representation in Congress. And the House recently passed a bill to grant statehood to D.C. There is more support for it than you are letting on.

No, the poor argument is thinking granting DC statehood will solve more problems than it will create. Which is not a topic of this thread or THR in general. But if you want to read up on why it is a bad idea, here is an older article from Cato. A rather non-partisan think tank.
https://www.cato.org/commentary/dc-statehood-fools-errand#

Back on topic, it will be interesting if this federal judge decision will lead to a Heller v2.0. Areas like DC, NY, IL try to wiggle out of pro-gun SCOTUS decisions. Little phrasing changes in laws to keep their anti-gun policies in place as much as possible, based on the wording in SCOTUS decisions like Heller. Changes through courts start with arrests, then they go through appellate courts state and federal, and finally SCOTUS. It may take another SCOTUS or lower court case decision of "Read Heller again dammit" to the states still dragging their feet.

 

[Ivy Mike]

No, the poor argument is thinking granting DC statehood will solve more problems than it will create. Which is not a topic of this thread or THR in general. But if you want to read up on why it is a bad idea, here is an older article from Cato. A rather non-partisan think tank.
https://www.cato.org/commentary/dc-statehood-fools-errand#

Back on topic, it will be interesting if this federal judge decision will lead to a Heller v2.0. Areas like DC, NY, IL try to wiggle out of pro-gun SCOTUS decisions. Little phrasing changes in laws to keep their anti-gun policies in place as much as possible, based on the wording in SCOTUS decisions like Heller. Changes through courts start with arrests, then they go through appellate courts state and federal, and finally SCOTUS. It may take another SCOTUS or lower court case decision of "Read Heller again dammit" to the states still dragging their feet.

I wouldn't consider CATO to be non-partisan at all. They are absolutely nothing more than a neoliberal publication attempting to smear their garbage with the authenticity of pseudo enlightenment revisionism. So, I guess technically non-partisan in that they aren't directly affiliated with any party, but the conservative bias of their writing tells me everything I need to know about their work product. Big giant grains of salt required any time a Cato link is presented.

But Heller isn't the big smackdown many think it is. Remember that Dick Heller's relief in DC v. Heller was that he was permitted to register his gun and carry it in his own home. Not even everywhere in D.C., just in the home.
Scalia even went so far as to state specifically that gun regulation was still very much valid as long as it didn't violate the 2nd Amendment. What did DC v. Heller say about the 2nd Amendment? It said that the 2nd Amendment protects an individual right to own guns. So a state could be 100% in compliance with the 2nd amendment with any number of registration and licensing schemes. All sorts of restrictions can be passed without running afoul of Heller.

And I think Scalia's reasoning in Heller is faulty as hell but that's a whole different can of worms.

 

[ozarkhillbilly]

For the sake of gun owners and the good of the country all federal offices should be moved out of Washington DC. The only federal entities that should remain there is the President, Congress and the Supreme Court. Move the Dept. of Agriculture to Iowa, the Dept. of Interior to Colorado and so forth. Get all the bureaucrats out of DC and back among the people they serve.

 

[Megawatt maker]

DC wont be paying the bill...we the US taxpayers will be. That alone IS a strong argument for DC to be spun off to Maryland.

Keep all federal buildings...the mall, museums etc as federal...give the rest back to Maryland. They can have their representation there, but we all know that isnt even close to the real reason they want DC to be a state. DC would be an automatic 2 Dem senators every election...forever. One more perma Dem Rep also. The "no taxation without representation" is just the cover. They dont give a single cow pattie about that...