THE BATTLE ISN'T OVER

The Supreme Court's 5 to 4 decision, overturning the Washington D.C. ban on citizens keeping a handgun in the home for self defense, was hailed as a long awaited victory by firearm owners across the nation. Although this is an important and historic decision concerning one aspect of the citizen's Second Amendment rights, there are still other issues to be resolved.

This case started when Anthony Heller, a security guard, who lives in a high crime area of Washington D.C. wanted to keep a handgun in his home for self defense. His request was denied and he filed suit against Washington D.C. The case eventually was heard by the Supreme Court of the United States which ruled that Mr. Heller had an unalienable right to keep a handgun in his home for self defense and that the Washington D.C. ban on handguns in the home violated the Second Amendment to the Constitution.

The court's ruling also has some serious implications for other cities with similar Orwellian handgun bans, such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. The National Rifle Association has indicated that they are considering filing law suits in those cities also.

Cathy Lanier, Chief of Police in Washington D.C. was quick to point out that most of the city's handgun ban remains intact. Those wishing to have a handgun in their home for self defense will still have to register the handgun, it must be a revolver, it cannot hold more than 12 rounds and may not be carried outside of the home. Semi-automatic handguns like the police in Washington D.C. carry and many American gun owners prefer, are considered machine guns regardless of the number of rounds they hold and are illegal for citizens to possess in the District of Columbia.

This battle has just heated up a little. Don't expect Washington D.C., New York, Chicago or San Francisco to cave in and recognize the citizen's Second Amendment Rights until the Supreme court revisits the issue and clears up all the questions remaining. You would think that with all the writings of the founding Fathers on this issue, there would be no questions or issues left to resolve including carrying a firearm away from home. Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Let your gun therefore, be the constant companion of your walks".

Our founding Fathers intent when they included the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights, seems pretty clear to me.