City asks high court to uphold gun ban

D.C. officials yesterday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that struck down the city’s 30-year-old handgun ban.

“I want to make clear that this is more than just an intellectual debate,” D.C. Attorney General Linda Singer said at a press conference outside Metropolitan Police Department headquarters in Northwest yesterday. “It is, for the residents of the District of Columbia, literally a matter of life and death.”

Mrs. Singer said she expects to hear in November whether the Supreme Court will hear the case, which could lead to the first direct ruling by the high court on the Second Amendment since 1939.

If the Supreme Court rejects the case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will instruct the U.S. District Court on how to enforce the ruling. Residents then can register legally obtained handguns.

Mrs. Singer said the petition filed with the Supreme Court outlines a three-pronged argument that will define the purpose of the Second Amendment, whom it covers and how much freedom it gives states to regulate guns.

Mrs. Singer and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said they prepared a contingency plan in case the D.C. law remains overturned, but they declined to give details.

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said that challenging the appellate court’s decision is a gamble.

“Not only could you get a worse decision that affects the District, you could get a worse decision that affects other states,” Mr. Helmke said.

Mr. Helmke said he told D.C. Solicitor General Todd Kim that proper enforcement of the District’s gun laws would help reduce crime.

He said, however, that the Brady Center would file a brief in support of the District if the Supreme Court takes the case.

Mrs. Singer said states and organizations have agreed to support the District’s case, but that she would not name them until the briefs are filed.

Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association, said the challenge represents “glaring hypocrisy” by the mayor, who has a 24-hour security detail.

“He selfishly enjoys that protection,” Mr. Arulanandam said. “Why is his life any more valuable than any other person’s?”

Mr. Arulanandam said the NRA champions gun safety and that law enforcement should focus on prosecuting criminals rather than law-abiding gun owners.

Mr. Fenty said research has convinced him that handgun legalization would lead to more crime.

“An easily concealable handgun is a criminal’s weapon of choice,” Mr. Fenty said. “More handguns means more gun violence.”

According to preliminary statistics from the Metropolitan Police Department, the homicide rate is up 6 percent and armed robbery is up 14 percent compared with this time last year. However, the rate of violent crime overall is down 8 percent.

The case originated in 2004, when six D.C. residents unsuccessfully sued the city in U.S. District Court to keep guns for home protection. In March, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned the ruling.

Mrs. Singer said it was the first time an appellate court overturned a gun law based on an interpretation of the Second Amendment.

The ruling effectively repealed the District’s ban on handguns, but the city asked that the laws remain in place through the appeals process. Even if the appellate court decision is upheld, gun sales and purchases still will be restricted.

The ban, enacted in 1976, prohibits residents from owning handguns. Rifles and shotguns are legal, but must be kept unloaded and disassembled.