In a major victory for Second Amendment rights over the weekend, U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Scullin struck down the Washington D.C. total ban on concealed and open carrying of firearms as unconstitutional. The ruling came after a five year long court battle and effective immediately, D.C. police cannot arrest someone for carry a legal firearm.
In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision striking down the city's 32-year-old ban on handguns. Since then, the city has rewritten its laws, lawsuits have been filed and even Congress has waded into the fight.
In a decision made public Saturday, Scullin concluded that the Second Amendment gives people the right to carry a gun outside the home for self-defense. He cited two U.S. Supreme Court cases as important to his ruling — the 2008 opinion striking down the District of Columbia's ban and a 2010 ruling involving Chicago's handgun ban.
"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," wrote Scullin, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush and is a retired Army colonel.
This morning Emily Miller, author of Emily Gets Her Gunand an expert in understanding D.C. gun laws, explained on Fox and Friends what the ruling means for carrying a firearm in the District.
"Anyone who is a none D.C. resident who legally can carry in their home state, whether open or concealed, can carry in D.C.," Miller said. "D.C. residents, if you have a registered gun like I do, I can carry. If you do not have a registered gun you can still be arrested on the unregistered gun law."