Washington Handgun Ban Unconstitutional, Judge Rules
A federal judge struck down the nation’s last complete prohibition on carrying guns outside the home, declaring the District of Columbia’s strict handgun ban unconstitutional.
The ruling by a judge in New York, announced late Saturday, is the latest blow to the decades-long gun law in the nation’s capital, which is plagued by violent crime. In a landmark decision in 2008, the Supreme Court struck down the district’s handgun ban, establishing for the first time a personal right to own a weapon under the 2nd Amendment.
Senior District Court Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr., a former Army colonel appointed to the court by President George H.W. Bush, ruled that the right to a weapon extended outside the home both for residents and visitors to Washington.
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