Parker v. District Of Columbia Headed To The Supreme Court

Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty announced today that the city will appeal the Appeals Court decision in Parker v. District of Columbia, which struck down the city’s gun control law:

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced today that the city will appeal to the Supreme Court to uphold a long-time ban on handguns that was overturned by a lower court in March.

“We have made the determination that this law can and should be defended,” Fenty said in a statement.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found in March that the city’s prohibition against residents keeping handguns in their homes is unconstitutional. The panel’s decision was upheld by the full court in May.

The Supreme Court could, of course, decline to hear the appeal but that seems unlikely given the breadth of the Parker decision and the fact that a split exists in the Circuit on whether the Second Amendment grants an individual or collective right to keep and bear arms.