US News
Court removes one of the toughest US laws on keeping guns
Mar 10, 2007, 14:35 GMT
Washington - A federal appeals court in the US capital Washington has toppled one of the toughest gun laws in the country, the US media reported Saturday.
According to the ruling, the keeping of handguns in the home is no longer prohibited in the District of Columbia. Out of fear that crime might increase, the city of Washington - which is located in the District - wanted to appeal immediately against the ruling, reports said.
Since the District banned all handguns in 1976, Washington's ordinary citizens have not been allowed to own guns unless they had been registered before the ban.
It remains prohibited, however, to carry guns outside of one's own home.
The ruling has been the most important decision on arms control by a court in 70 years. During the ruling, which was watched closely and with suspense by arms opponents, the arms lobby and the other federal states, an appeals court for the first time stated that the right to bear arms was protected by the constitution.
As Washington is planning to appeal against the ruling, the 30- year-old law is to remain in force for the time being. Legal experts think that the case might go to the Supreme Court, according to the Washington Post.
Six complainants in Washington had brought a suit against the ban on handguns, saying that they wanted to keep a gun at home for self- defence.
Critics have said for a while that the present arms laws in Washington were not working. Last year, for instance, handguns had been used in 137 out of 169 homicides, while police had confiscated more than 2,600 firearms, the Washington Post said.
Firearms were also readily available on the black market, according to the paper.
Senior Judge Laurence Silberman wrote in his ruling that the District's gun control laws 'irrationally prevent only law-abiding citizens from owning handguns.'
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
This is a good start to protecting everyone's second amendment rights. Each law abiding citizen should have the right to protect their family despite geographical location.
These types of laws are ridiculous in the first place... Criminals dont follow laws!!
I live in AZ, almost everybody has a gun or two around the house. Not just the bad guys and cops. I think we need to spend more time getting the guns out of the bad guys hands, not good citizens.
Never mind beware of dog, beware of owner! Great news! Bad news for the crooks and murders.
I would like to read this article but the 'I Think I Love My Wife' pop-up is blocking most of the real text. Please stop using obnoxious advertising methods,
This is probably going to the Supreme Court. They wer ethe one's that added two and two and got three.
Nonetheless, it's stellar news for those who know correctly that protection is the right and obligation of the citizen.
The liberals must be crapping themselves.
Why do you all need guns?To defend yourself against criminals ?Is that it ?Well it doesn' work that way .How come there is so much less gun related crime here in europ ?Simply because nobody is allowed to have any .
sounds good to me . id love to kill my neighbor .as he's from pakistan .now i can
it legal to own and keep my two dozen phosphorus grenades. Kinda of like the right to bear arms except I just don't like guns yet I still need protection. I drop one of those down a burglars pants and it just might ruin his day.
French riots: Solution, censorship. France bars individuals from posting clips of the violence on the Internet. Cool, huh?
Spanish Bombings: Solution, capitulate to terror.
Carlos Martinez - commits acts of terror for thirty years without capture. Who was on the case, Tony, Inspector Clouseau?
Terrorist kills Dutch author, and outspoken Islamist complains: solution, run her out of Holland. Sounds like the KKK to me.
No, Tony, I'll take the good ol USA's society any day. Also, many Europeans own guns, but mostly land owners. How fair is that?
watch what you say .sp4 is a backstabber
Europe has a low incidence of gun violence, except for the influx of immigrants, because the need for individuality, freedom, and independence has been bred out of them over the last 500 years or so. The feudal system was so prevalent in Europe that individuality became a rare thing. Hence, violence of any kind became abhorrent to them. However, things are gradually changing in Europe as we see at their soccer games. Our ancestors came to the new world because they were different and wanted something else and were willing to take a chance to better themselves or die trying. Settling of the new world required one to have weapons. So we became gun owners and the Europeans became a bunch of wusses.
Censorship, loss of personal rights, Euthanasia. Europe's slowly slipping into Marxism. OH and Tony from Belgium, your country is leading the way.
I agree with Randy. We in the USA have a different cultural attitude towards violence.
I really don't understand the 'take away the guns' argument. That argument ignores the reality which is that a criminal, by definition, doesn't follow the law.
So if you take a way the guns the criminals will still have them! Like duhhh! Even a dumb blonde could figure that one out.
Liberals make decisions on emotion rather than logical thought. They apply their solutions to an idealistic view of the world rather than a realistic one. They then respond to arguments with attacks on the person rather than the argument because their decision was based on emotion. The wheel goes round and round and round... I see it as a mental disorder.
'the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed ' seems pretty darned clear to me.
By the way Heartless, what do you have against blonds?
page: 1
Chicago Next, Thank GoodnessMar 10th, 2007 - 15:26:24
Now we can get Chicago's law overturned, too, so I am not a criminal for keeping my own pistol in my home for protection in this murderous city.
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