Second Amendment Blog
Heller v. DC
Posted by: Sebastian on 
Jul 28th, 2008 | 
Filed under: Gun Rights
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.
July 28th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Bravo Mr. Heller, Bravo!
July 28th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Pardon my French, but FUCKIN’ A MAN!
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 [...]
July 28th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Let us hope the District Court reads Heller I, and ends this soon.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Perfection. This is yet another solid foot hold in the war. And will undoubtedly be a trial case to carry forward.
July 28th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
This means you have to come up with another bunch of Heller titles! :)
July 28th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Hopefully, ’shall not be infringed’ will be defined in this coming case. That would be a critical blow to the enemies of the Constitution!
July 28th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Here is the complaint. Attorney this time is Stephen Halbrook.
Good.
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/0728heller.pdf
July 28th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Excellent. Halbrook is going to be a busy guy for the next decade, I think :)
July 28th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
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.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Oh hahahaha he got Halbrook this time? Awesome. We win.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
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?
July 28th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
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]
July 28th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
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
July 28th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
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.
July 28th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
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.
July 28th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
[...] Here is a great post from Snowflakes in Hell [...]
July 28th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Good for Mr. Heller! BTW, it’s ‘District of Columbia,’ not ‘Colombia.’
July 29th, 2008 at 12:31 am
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. :(
July 29th, 2008 at 12:45 am
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?
July 29th, 2008 at 6:17 am
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.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Why would they not wait until the final orders from Heller are released? These restrictions might be overturned by the appellate or district court?
July 29th, 2008 at 8:52 am
[...] Mr. Heller is suing DC again, because, well, their new laws really aren’t that different from the old laws. [...]
July 29th, 2008 at 11:15 am
I think itis time for Sabastian to rename the blog to “Snowflakes in Heller”.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:36 am
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…
July 29th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
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.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
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.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Halbrook is 4-0 in front of the Supreme Court.
July 30th, 2008 at 9:26 am
[...] Dick Heller is suing Washington DC again. Per Sebastian, Heller is seeking an injunction against DC’s: [...]
July 30th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
[...] (Hat tip to Sebastian.) [...]
September 1st, 2008 at 7:00 am
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 ! !
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