I think due in minor part to their own hubris and in major part from prodding by the antis, DC has to appeal to the SCOTUS. Here’s why.
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is informally known as the Junior Supreme Court of the United States.
The reason for this reputation is that this is the sole district that is not encompassing a specific geographical region of states or territories from which cases are drawn. As such, the Justices that serve there are not put on it in part by Senatorial favoritism, so the DC Circuit Court of Appeals is about as close to a meritocracy as the lower federal courts get. The lack of geographic reach is also the byproduct of another function of this unique Circuit. All federal rule-making powers are reviewed, in the end, by this Court of Appeals, oftentimes directly. Federal laws can also be directly attacked in their jurisdiction.
That is why DC will be prodded by gun control forces to appeal. They have to. The DC Circuit has ruled, essentially en banc since refusing a rehearing, that the 2A is unequivocally an individual right. As of this writing, Parker is already a stick of dynamite with a lit fuse, and when it goes off, much of the federal ticky-tack regulation of guns will likely die in the explosion. DC and the antis can only hope that the SCOTUS pulls the fuse out, otherwise the explosion is just a matter of time.
Eventually, the following items are under direct threat: 1) The 1986 closing of the machine gun registry. That one is a defacto ban if there ever was one. 2) All of the import bans of various pedigree are under direct threat. After all, if the 2A is a fundamental individual right, on what basis does the government tell a citizen from which country he or she may obtain a firearm? We do not restrict folks from subscribing to foreign magazines or “pre-ban” inviting foreign religious leaders into the country for spiritual guidance, so why can I not have a Russian made AK clone if I wish? Why should there have to be a mandatory US parts count on imported rifles to get around a “sporting purposes” arms restriction? There is no mention of sport in the constitution as the Parker decision made clear, so the Gun Control Act of 1968 is also under direct threat. 3) The restoration of firearms rights following expungement of an old conviction is in direct danger. Restoration used to be possible, but Congress has defunded the ATF from processing applications, another de facto ban on a class of persons.
Finally, 4) the entire tax stamp scheme of the 1934 NFA is under direct threat. It is not under threat because of what $200.00 represents today in proportion to a $15,000.00 transferrable M-16, but rather, the question of Miller would be directly confronted. Miller seemed to suggest that if the sawed-off shotgun in question were a militia useable weapon, then the tax scheme would be an unconstitutional infringement. The power to tax is the power to destroy.
It is the intent of the NFA that will be examined closely. A cursory examination of the relative value of the items sought to be taxed back in the day and the $200.00 demanded back then, served to make the tax many more times the value of the weapon being taxed in most cases. Since the NFA is still valid law, and since the tax stamp could be raised by a simple majority vote if signed by the president, the entire intent of the Act is called into question. It is true that Congress has broad powers to lay in revenue, however, it is impermissible to overtax a constitutionally protected freedom so as to make the exercise of it cost prohibitive. It is not even so much the money involved in the NFA that would be at issue, it is rather the onerous accompanying paperwork that might call for its constitutional doom. One could readily pay the Treasury a direct $200.00 attached to a form, but the fingerprinting, the permission of the chief law enforcement officer? Those are likely unconstitutional infringements.
I am not an expert on firearms law, but if I can sort of see the long term implications of Parker in the DC Circuit as it applies to present and future federal laws and regulations coming under ready and successful attack by CATO and the NRA, the antis have a very crystalline view of the danger to their agenda. They will do everything in their power to cajole Mayor Fenty to appeal. If they don’t, they have fully lost half of the battle (the federal level), for the rest of time if the Supremes keep ducking the 2A.
And the extension of Parker to attack stupid gun control laws, when the resultant "bloodbath" never occurs, will only reinforce RKBA rights in any eventual SCOTUS showdown if Parker is not taken up and overturned by the SCOTUS.
The antis don't want this showdown now, but they have to take the chance while they still have at least 4 pliable Justices on the Court who might vote their agenda. If the Republicans get to name another one or two justices, or if Parker is not appealed, it is game over, perhaps permanently, for major gun control initiatives and the antis will be reduced to ankle biting on the details of sweeping pro-RKBA roll backs of gun control.
Parker currently grants individuals standing to sue over the deprivation of their firearms rights. Certainly there is someone in the nation who wants to sue over 922(o), the various import bans, the inability to restore their RKBA rights following an expungement, or who might want a silencer without having a "by your leave" made to a CLEO.
Parker, if it becomes final now, is almost as dangerous to the antis' agenda by itself, as a square on SCOTUS decision upholding an individual right.
Therefore, the antis will do everything they can to see that Parker is appealed to SCOTUS. Hang onto your hats.
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is informally known as the Junior Supreme Court of the United States.
The reason for this reputation is that this is the sole district that is not encompassing a specific geographical region of states or territories from which cases are drawn. As such, the Justices that serve there are not put on it in part by Senatorial favoritism, so the DC Circuit Court of Appeals is about as close to a meritocracy as the lower federal courts get. The lack of geographic reach is also the byproduct of another function of this unique Circuit. All federal rule-making powers are reviewed, in the end, by this Court of Appeals, oftentimes directly. Federal laws can also be directly attacked in their jurisdiction.
That is why DC will be prodded by gun control forces to appeal. They have to. The DC Circuit has ruled, essentially en banc since refusing a rehearing, that the 2A is unequivocally an individual right. As of this writing, Parker is already a stick of dynamite with a lit fuse, and when it goes off, much of the federal ticky-tack regulation of guns will likely die in the explosion. DC and the antis can only hope that the SCOTUS pulls the fuse out, otherwise the explosion is just a matter of time.
Eventually, the following items are under direct threat: 1) The 1986 closing of the machine gun registry. That one is a defacto ban if there ever was one. 2) All of the import bans of various pedigree are under direct threat. After all, if the 2A is a fundamental individual right, on what basis does the government tell a citizen from which country he or she may obtain a firearm? We do not restrict folks from subscribing to foreign magazines or “pre-ban” inviting foreign religious leaders into the country for spiritual guidance, so why can I not have a Russian made AK clone if I wish? Why should there have to be a mandatory US parts count on imported rifles to get around a “sporting purposes” arms restriction? There is no mention of sport in the constitution as the Parker decision made clear, so the Gun Control Act of 1968 is also under direct threat. 3) The restoration of firearms rights following expungement of an old conviction is in direct danger. Restoration used to be possible, but Congress has defunded the ATF from processing applications, another de facto ban on a class of persons.
Finally, 4) the entire tax stamp scheme of the 1934 NFA is under direct threat. It is not under threat because of what $200.00 represents today in proportion to a $15,000.00 transferrable M-16, but rather, the question of Miller would be directly confronted. Miller seemed to suggest that if the sawed-off shotgun in question were a militia useable weapon, then the tax scheme would be an unconstitutional infringement. The power to tax is the power to destroy.
It is the intent of the NFA that will be examined closely. A cursory examination of the relative value of the items sought to be taxed back in the day and the $200.00 demanded back then, served to make the tax many more times the value of the weapon being taxed in most cases. Since the NFA is still valid law, and since the tax stamp could be raised by a simple majority vote if signed by the president, the entire intent of the Act is called into question. It is true that Congress has broad powers to lay in revenue, however, it is impermissible to overtax a constitutionally protected freedom so as to make the exercise of it cost prohibitive. It is not even so much the money involved in the NFA that would be at issue, it is rather the onerous accompanying paperwork that might call for its constitutional doom. One could readily pay the Treasury a direct $200.00 attached to a form, but the fingerprinting, the permission of the chief law enforcement officer? Those are likely unconstitutional infringements.
I am not an expert on firearms law, but if I can sort of see the long term implications of Parker in the DC Circuit as it applies to present and future federal laws and regulations coming under ready and successful attack by CATO and the NRA, the antis have a very crystalline view of the danger to their agenda. They will do everything in their power to cajole Mayor Fenty to appeal. If they don’t, they have fully lost half of the battle (the federal level), for the rest of time if the Supremes keep ducking the 2A.
And the extension of Parker to attack stupid gun control laws, when the resultant "bloodbath" never occurs, will only reinforce RKBA rights in any eventual SCOTUS showdown if Parker is not taken up and overturned by the SCOTUS.
The antis don't want this showdown now, but they have to take the chance while they still have at least 4 pliable Justices on the Court who might vote their agenda. If the Republicans get to name another one or two justices, or if Parker is not appealed, it is game over, perhaps permanently, for major gun control initiatives and the antis will be reduced to ankle biting on the details of sweeping pro-RKBA roll backs of gun control.
Parker currently grants individuals standing to sue over the deprivation of their firearms rights. Certainly there is someone in the nation who wants to sue over 922(o), the various import bans, the inability to restore their RKBA rights following an expungement, or who might want a silencer without having a "by your leave" made to a CLEO.
Parker, if it becomes final now, is almost as dangerous to the antis' agenda by itself, as a square on SCOTUS decision upholding an individual right.
Therefore, the antis will do everything they can to see that Parker is appealed to SCOTUS. Hang onto your hats.
