Saturday, March 10, 2007

D.C.'s Ban On Handguns In Homes Is Thrown Out

This should be an interesting experiment (that is if the ruling isn't reversed). Will having guns be legal decrease or increase gun violence? (Or maybe no change) There are lots of variables to account for such as the current prevalence of handguns (will changing the law increase the number of handguns?) etc.

A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that the District's longtime ban on keeping handguns in homes is unconstitutional.

The 2 to 1 decision by an appellate panel outraged D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and other city leaders, who said that they will appeal and that gun-related crimes could rise if the ruling takes effect. The outcome elated opponents of strict gun controls because it knocked down one of the toughest laws in the country and vindicated their interpretation of the U.S. Constitution's language on the right to bear arms.

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