DC Handgun Bill

Guide Note

The District of Columbia's 32-year-old ban on handguns, also known as the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975, came under fire on March 18, 2008, when the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of the District of Columbia vs. Heller.

Fast Facts

1. DC Handgun Statue enacted on June 26, 1976
2. Law bans the ownership of handguns in the District of Columbia except for retired and active police officers
3. 2nd amendment: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"
4. 2nd amendment introduced: June 8, 1789
5. 2nd amendment ratified: December 15, 1791
6. District vs. Heller Arguments heard March 18, 2008
7. Lawyer for the District: Walter Dellinger
8. Lawyer for Heller: Alan Gura

The District of Columbia vs. Heller is an appeal of Parker v. District of Columbia, a decision by the United States Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, which ruled that the firearm ban was an unconstitutional infringement on the Second Amendment.

The District of Columbia vs. Heller appeal marked the first time since 1939 that the Supreme Court heard debate on the Second Amendment to the Constitution.

"Eighty thousand to 100,000 people every year in the United States are either killed or wounded in gun-related homicides or crimes or accidents or suicides. ... In the District, I guess the number is somewhere around 200 to 300 dead and maybe it's 1,500 to 2,000 people wounded. Now, in light of that, why isn't a ban on handguns, while allowing the use of rifles and muskets, a reasonable or a proportionate response on behalf of the District of Columbia?" - Justice Stephen Breyer¹