That’s right, it’s not DC v. Heller. Dick Heller is suing the District of Colombia once again over their new gun laws. We wish Mr. Heller the best of luck.
UPDATE: You can see a copy of the complaint here.
UPDATE: Now that I’ve had time to read, it looks like they are basically asking for an injunction against:
- The ballistics testing nonsense which requires an undefined fee.
- The nonsense about not being able to register a semi-automatic pistol under DC’s ridiculous definition of “machine gun”
- They ask for any further relief the court may want to offer.
What they are not asking for an injunction on is whether semi-autos that can shoot more than 12 rounds from a magazine. Also, again, they aren’t challenging the registration itself. That’ll all be later cases. Pick the low hanging fruit first.
Bravo Mr. Heller, Bravo!
Pardon my French, but FUCKIN’ A MAN!
Let us hope the District Court reads Heller I, and ends this soon.
Perfection. This is yet another solid foot hold in the war. And will undoubtedly be a trial case to carry forward.
This means you have to come up with another bunch of Heller titles! :)
Hopefully, ‘shall not be infringed’ will be defined in this coming case. That would be a critical blow to the enemies of the Constitution!
Here is the complaint. Attorney this time is Stephen Halbrook.
Good.
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/0728heller.pdf
Excellent. Halbrook is going to be a busy guy for the next decade, I think :)
Personally, I think he should have just told Fenty he was going to kill him ;-).
I’m just kidding–don’t get all outraged at me.
Oh hahahaha he got Halbrook this time? Awesome. We win.
Hey Mister Mayor? I’d like to introduce you to your new driver. His name is Mike, Mike Vanderboegh.
Heh.
More seriously (much more seriously): does anyone know the laws in DC? Can Fenty, etc, be sued or be obliged to repay money spent on trying to circumvent the SCOTUS decision? From this distance, it seems pretty clear that the DC Council is trying to get around Heller instead of throwing in the towel.
Or is this one of those ‘wait until the next election’ kind of problems?
There is a hidden GEM in this suit:
[quote]The above requires payment of a fee, the amount of which is left to the boundless discretion of the Chief of Police, in order to register, and hence lawfully to possess a pistol. Predicating the right lawfully to possess a pistol as guaranteed by the Second Amendment on the payment of any fee, and moreso an undefined fee with no limit according to the arbitrary will of the Chief, infringes on the right of the people, including plaintiffs herein, to keep and bear arms.[/quote]
hes not challenging the ballistics testing requirement, he is challenging the fee without limits and the testing time frame without limit.
i am hoping that the court will do what it did in the past with the heller challenge and rule that all of the laws in question are invalid…
depending on the next president, a DC challenge back to the SCOTUS will either affirm the previous heller ruling or it will vacate it… this is where it might get sticky
I think he’s challenging the whole provision, but using the fee issue as a basis for it. Presumably, depending on how the courts rule, DC could keep the test without a fee, or with a fixed fee. But I believe they are asking for the entire fingerprinting provision to be tossed.
More seriously (much more seriously): does anyone know the laws in DC? Can Fenty, etc, be sued or be obliged to repay money spent on trying to circumvent the SCOTUS decision? From this distance, it seems pretty clear that the DC Council is trying to get around Heller instead of throwing in the towel.
There’s not really any suit that could be filed, other than the kind Halbrook and Gardiner just filed on Heller’s behalf. A federal civil rights suit would have to be filed seeking an injunction against said activity, but you could not seek monetary damages suing Fenty in his official capacity as mayor. You can sue him in his personal capacity, but then he can claim qualified immunity. Because Fenty technically isn’t violating the original Heller case, he followed The Court’s order to issue Mr. Heller a license for the firearm at question, overcoming his immunity might be difficult.
I definitely agree Fenty isn’t acting in good faith here, but DC’s ridiculous machine gun law was not what was challenged by the original Heller case.
Good for Mr. Heller! BTW, it’s ‘District of Columbia,’ not ‘Colombia.’
OK. I was thinking in terms of malfeasance or misfeasance (I keep forgetting the difference) in that he’s costing DC money to defend this suit instead of, you know, actually reading what Heller says instead of trying to weasel his way through it.
I guess that’s why there are folks who read the Americans with Disabilities Act so as to provide the minimum required compliance. :(
ok so then the biggest fear i have is now that Heller will win against DC but it will take a year or more… by then, one or 2 judges will have been replaced on the SCOTUS by obama… DC appeals the new Heller case back to the SCOTUS… and the SCOTUS tosses the original Heller ruling…
anyone else see this being possible?
Chris:
I don’t. Should Obama be elected, the first ones to jump ship will likely be Stevens, followed by Ginsburg. Certainly the core four of the majority would not go anywhere given an Obama presidency, and I highly doubt that Kennedy would go anywhere. Besides, SCOTUS decisions, even those voted 5-4, are not easily vacated.
Why would they not wait until the final orders from Heller are released? These restrictions might be overturned by the appellate or district court?
I think itis time for Sabastian to rename the blog to “Snowflakes in Heller”.
Anybody else notice who the 3rd plaintiff listed is? AMY McVEY, the first new DC licensee. I think there may be a long term plan in play…
I am quite sure that there is a long term plan in play, i just do not know what it is. I have decided that Heller’s attorney is one shrewd SOB and i would hate to have to face him in a court.
Well, Heller’s first attorney was Alan Gura, who is now off harassing Chicago. He has a new set of attorneys for this case. But he’s still in capable hands.
Halbrook is 4-0 in front of the Supreme Court.
REF: This could get confusing « Firearms & Freedom says:
July 28th, 2008 at 6:18 pm […] could get confusing We had D.C. v. Heller, now we have Heller v. DC. Dick Heller is taking D.C. back to court, claiming that the new laws do not honor the […]
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EXPLANATION: The original case was our challange to the city & was named “Parker, et al., vs. DC” which later became “Heller [ I ] vs. DC.”
When the city took their request to the Supreme Court, it was then THEIR challange, hence, “DC vs. Heller.”
NOW, in the city’s black spirit, we must RE-Challange them so it is again,
“Heller (II) vs. DC.”
AND — Heller III, IV, & V are on the drawing board.
I’m now just a security guard,
surrounding myself with superior talent,
as an indicator to let everyone know we can all
strike back @ hammer & sickle gov’t ! !