Today, July 26, 2014, the District Court of the District of Columbia has overturned the DC's ban on the carrying of firearms in public. An excerpt from the case, Palmer v. DC, follows and the full opinion can be downloaded from the link below this blog entry.
In light of Heller, McDonald, and their progeny, there is no longer any basis on which this Court can conclude that the District of Columbia's total ban on the public carrying of ready-to-use handguns outside the home is constitutional under any level of scrutiny. Therefore, the Court finds that the District of Columbia's complete ban on the carrying of handguns in public is unconstitutional. Accordingly . . . the Court grants Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and enjoins Defendants from enforcing the home limitations of D.C. Code § 7-2502.02(a)(4) and enforcing D.C. Code § 22-4504(a) unless and until such time as the District of Columbia adopts a licensing mechanism consistent with constitutional standards enabling people to exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms. Furthermore, this injunction prohibits the District from completely banning the carrying of handguns in public for self-defense by otherwise qualified non-residents based solely on the fact that they are not residents of the District.
Arsenal Attorneys will continue monitoring developments closely. Watch for an order staying this decision while an appeal proceeds. Our firm maintains an office in Washington, DC and we have DC-licensed attorneys ready to advise clients about these matters. Arsenal Attorneys' main office is located in Fairfax, Virginia beside NRA headquarters. We serve clients in nearly 40 states, and we are particularly known for our Arsenal Gun Trust, which is a solution for owning NFA firearms (e.g. suppressors and short barrels) and for estate planning for gun collections.