July 29, 2014
Zaina Kahuk
News Writer
Headlines
U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Scullin struck down the District of Columbia’s ban on carrying guns outside of a person’s home, stating it violates the Second Amendment rights. Scullin voiced that the Second Amendment gives people the right to carry a gun outside the home for self-defense purposes. He listed two U.S. Supreme Court cases – the 2008 opinion striking down the District of Columbia’s ban and a 2010 ruling involving Chicago’s handgun ban. “There is no longer any basis on which this court can conclude that the District of Columbia’s total ban on the public carrying of ready-to-use handguns outside the home is constitutional under any level of scrutiny,” he stated. Ted Gest, a spokesman for the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia who defended the city’s ban, said the city is studying the opinion and its options. Those include appealing the judge’s ruling.
