As I noted in To Hell with Heller, this case makes it clear that gun limitations and regulations are perfectly permissible (see also my posts The Great Gun Decision: Dissent and Heller and the States). And thus, two federal courts (at least) have already upheld regulations on gun rights based on Heller. And D.C. itself is set to “Replace a Handgun Ban With Prohibitive Regulations.”
So is it any surprise that Dennis Henigan, of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, is not concerned with Heller, because “the lower courts are likely to interpret Heller as giving a constitutional green light to virtually every gun control law short of a handgun ban.” Of course he is right, as is clear from Scalia’s opinion, and the predictable court results noted above.
(Thanks to Huebert for the link.)[Update: On July 15, 2008, the federal court in U.S. v. Gilbert confirmed that, based on Heller, the jury instructions given in a criminal case were correct, since Heller makes it clear that individuals “do not have the right to possess machineguns or short-barreled rifles, as Gilbert did, and convicted felons, such as Gilbert, do not have the right to possess any firearms.”]
11:34 pm on July 16, 2008
