Author Topic: Dick Heller Denied Handgun Registration. (Read 7857 times)

Nitrogen · « **on:** July 17, 2008, 10:50:19 AM »

Apparently Mr. Heller attempted to register what DC considers a "Machine Gun."

I hope the district ends up back in court very quickly here. This is getting really stupid.

Quote

WASHINGTON (WUSA) -- District residents can start registering their guns today. But at least one very high profile application was already rejected.

Dick Heller is the man who brought the lawsuit against the District's 32-year-old ban on handguns. He was among the first in line Thursday morning to apply for a handgun permit.

But when he tried to register his semi-automatic weapon, he says he was rejected. He says his gun has seven bullet clip. Heller says the City Council legislation allows weapons with fewer than eleven bullets in the clip. A spokesman for the DC Police says the gun was a bottom-loading weapon, and according to their interpretation, all bottom-loading guns are outlawed because they are grouped with machine guns.

Besides obtaining paperwork to buy new handguns, residents also can register firearms they've had illegally under a 180-day amnesty period.

Though residents will be allowed to begin applying for handgun permits, city officials have said the entire process could take weeks or months.

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=74036&catid=158

Scout26 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 17, 2008, 11:17:34 AM »

It's not nice to tick off the Supreme Court...... police

agricola · « **Reply #2 on:** July 17, 2008, 11:26:37 AM »

Does this mean these are legal in DC?

StopTheGrays · « **Reply #3 on:** July 17, 2008, 11:33:33 AM »

P90's are also legal then?

Lennyjoe · « **Reply #4 on:** July 17, 2008, 12:31:01 PM »

Any lawsuits filed yet?

The Annoyed Man · « **Reply #5 on:** July 17, 2008, 12:34:46 PM »

Quote from: StopTheGrays on July 17, 2008, 10:33:33 AM

P90's are also legal then?

Calico's should be OK as well then. Same with old Mauser pistols. And some of the AR-15's for sale in California without a detachable magazine.

seeker_two · « **Reply #6 on:** July 17, 2008, 01:04:47 PM »

What would it take to get a contempt citation from SCOTUS?.....

Regolith · « **Reply #7 on:** July 17, 2008, 02:02:17 PM »

Quote from: seeker_two on July 17, 2008, 12:04:47 PM

What would it take to get a contempt citation from SCOTUS?.....

I don't know, but it looks like DC is trying to find out.

Edit: This might actually be a good thing. If DC pisses off the supremes enough, we might just get a 9-0 ruling enforcing the Heller ruling. And it may come along with a greater expansion of the right. In other words, while Heller set precedent, DC dickering around may just make SCotUS etch that ruling into stone.

nico · « **Reply #8 on:** July 17, 2008, 02:46:26 PM »

Did the ruling not say "Mr. Heller must be allowed to register his gun" (emphasis mine)? It seems pretty obvious that DC's law, or its interpretation thereof, is in direct contradiction with the SC ruling.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #9 on:** July 17, 2008, 07:06:35 PM »

Quote from: Regolith on July 17, 2008, 01:02:17 PM

This might actually be a good thing. If DC pisses off the supremes enough, we might just get a 9-0 ruling enforcing the Heller ruling. And it may come along with a greater expansion of the right. In other words, while Heller set precedent, DC dickering around may just make SCotUS etch that ruling into stone.

That's what Heller and his counsel were hoping for when they went down there. Shouldn't go back to SCOTUS, though. I believe the two lower courts ruled in Heller's favor, so they would be expected to do so again.

I admit though, I'm just repeating what I read on THR.

What no one seems to be commenting on (in the threads I've looked at) are the insane storage rules, and that they seem to very clearly conflict with Scalia's talk of carrying guns in one's home.

wmenorr67 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 17, 2008, 08:32:33 PM »

Is the whole DC council on crack? This could prove very interesting. The fact being that SCOTUS is in recess until October so what would be the procedure for SCOTUS getting together and slapping a hand or two?

m1911owner · « **Reply #11 on:** July 17, 2008, 08:45:45 PM »

Quote from: wmenorr67 on July 17, 2008, 07:32:33 PM

Is the whole DC council on crack? This could prove very interesting. The fact being that SCOTUS is in recess until October so what would be the procedure for SCOTUS getting together and slapping a hand or two?

I highly doubt that there is anything about this case that is urgent enough to recall the Justices from their recess. If anything is going to happen anytime soon, it will have to happen at the district or appeals court levels.

m1911owner · « **Reply #12 on:** July 17, 2008, 08:49:20 PM »

Quote from: fistful on July 17, 2008, 06:06:35 PM

What no one seems to be commenting on (in the threads I've looked at) are the insane storage rules, and that they seem to very clearly conflict with Scalia's talk of carrying guns in one's home.

Other than getting cited or arrested for "illegal storage conditions", I don't know how one would get standing to sue about this issue.

m1911owner · « **Reply #13 on:** July 17, 2008, 09:03:14 PM »

Quote from: Nitrogen on July 17, 2008, 09:50:19 AM

Apparently Mr. Heller attempted to register what DC considers a "Machine Gun."

Despite all the hand-wringing here and on THR about the "machine gun" designation, I think that's a red herring. The District has chosen to define guns that meet a certain set of characteristics to be in a category that they have chosen to call "machine guns." Governmental bodies do this all the time--creating definitions for words that have different meanings within the scope of their particular law than what they mean in common English. It would make no difference to anything if they had chosen to call that category "ham sandwiches." "Mr. Heller, you cannot register that gun because it is a 'ham sandwich'." It's the same difference.

The real issue at hand is that the Supreme Court held that they can't ban any class of commonly-used firearm. (At least I think that was "holding" and not "dicta.") The M1911A1 is the quintessential "commonly-used firearm"; it matters not whether you call it a "semi-automatic pistol," a "ham sandwich," or a "machine gun." As such, it is clearly in the range of weapons that the USSC had in mind when it ordered the District to register Mr. Heller's gun.

MicroBalrog · « **Reply #14 on:** July 17, 2008, 09:06:34 PM »

It cannot be 'dicta'.

Dicta is a plural, IIRC.

m1911owner · « **Reply #15 on:** July 17, 2008, 09:14:44 PM »

Quote from: MicroBalrog on July 17, 2008, 08:06:34 PM

It cannot be 'dicta'.

Dicta is a plural, IIRC.

OK, I have a subject-verb mismatch in that sentence. Would you like this better?: "At least I think those remarks were part of the 'holdings' and not part of the 'dicta.'"

rolleyes

MicroBalrog · « **Reply #16 on:** July 17, 2008, 09:29:53 PM »

[/Grammar National Socialist]

S. Williamson · « **Reply #17 on:** July 18, 2008, 03:40:52 AM »

Holy heck! A politically-correct Grammar Nazi! grin

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #18 on:** July 18, 2008, 08:37:59 AM »

Dictum?

Manedwolf · « **Reply #19 on:** July 18, 2008, 08:40:16 AM »

An M1911 is about as iconically American as you can get. Ironic.

John G · « **Reply #20 on:** July 18, 2008, 10:02:00 AM »

Quote from: fistful on July 18, 2008, 07:37:59 AM

Dictum?

...I hardly knew 'em! grin

seeker_two · « **Reply #21 on:** July 18, 2008, 10:51:03 AM »

Quote from: fistful on July 18, 2008, 07:37:59 AM

Dictum?

Nope....but I did shake his hand once.....

Blast you, John G.....ya beat me to the punchline.... laugh

RevDisk · « **Reply #22 on:** July 18, 2008, 01:21:54 PM »

Quote from: wmenorr67 on July 17, 2008, 07:32:33 PM

Is the whole DC council on crack? This could prove very interesting. The fact being that SCOTUS is in recess until October so what would be the procedure for SCOTUS getting together and slapping a hand or two?

Na, a lower court will do so.

If they were smart as they are evil, they'd have approved his handgun by waiver and denied all others. Instead, they directly violated the SCOTUS ruling. Not smart. Still evil, but not smart.

doczinn · « **Reply #23 on:** July 18, 2008, 01:33:01 PM »

A damn good thing for the rest of us that he isn't strictly a revolver man.

The Annoyed Man · « **Reply #24 on:** July 18, 2008, 04:01:44 PM »

Quote from: seeker_two on July 17, 2008, 12:04:47 PM

What would it take to get a contempt citation from SCOTUS?.....

Not as much as it would take to enforce it. sad

Call me a pessimist; I cannot expect an abused system to be able to correct itself. sad

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Author Topic: Dick Heller Denied Handgun Registration. (Read 7857 times)