DC Mayor outraged, plans to continue enforcing the handgun ban.

[Glockfan.45]

This poster was refering to drug laws in California that made pot legal.

we voted and cops didnt like we made it legal.

so police still very often enforce non existant laws.

It does not matter in that case. Having a controlled substance is illegal under federal laws which trump state laws. The D.C handgun ban was a state or district law if you will so the local courts can overturn it. If there were a Federal Law that banned handguns they would be illegal regardless of what the judges ruled.

 

[DennisTheMenace]

Many DC residents may already own guns

The first affected group may be those people who moved to DC and left guns they already owned in storage outside the district. Since they already own those firearms they wouldn't have to purchase them, just move them them to their present home.

Dennis

 

[spankaveli]

helped decrease gun violence?

last i checked, DC was one of the highest crime places in the nation...

 

[Deanimator]

You bitch and bitch, and eventually they let you out. Are you compensated after you're fired for missing a conference?
Probably not.

Don't bet on it. There's a guy sueing the Port Authority even as we speak, and I've heard he doesn't seem inclined to settle.

EVERY time some city tries something like that, you should REAM them in court, and NEVER settle. They don't learn anything when you settle.

 

[shield20]

I am so glad these %$#@ers think they can do whatever the hell they want - no matter how illegal or unconstitutional. What the hell - how can they get away with such things!?!

This guy is apparently ignoring a federal court decision - because HE doesn't like it - what crap!! These above-the-law offcials HAVE GOT TO go!

(of course if he isn't, 'cause the ruling is somehow not binding yet - then screw him anyway - I still don't like him!)

 

[spankaveli]

Isn't this the same mayor who was quoted recently as acknowledging the fact that DC had the toughest gun laws in the country, yet still had one of the highest crime rates in the US? Is he blind, or just an idiot?

I can't wait to run into my cousin's anti husband. I see a real brawl coming. He is a DC lawyer.

Video tape that and post it on youtube.

 

[offthepaper]

Mayor Adrian Fenty says the decision "flies in the face of laws that have helped decrease gun violence" in the city[/QUOTE
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yeah, he's funny.

 

[SSN Vet]

surprise, surprise!

another liberal wants the restrictive laws he advocates to apply to every one else.....while he picks and choses what laws he will enforce/follow.

IMO liberals are all about personal power and wealth gained by selling "snake oil" to the masses. Thank them for everything from the personal income tax to gun control.

 

[longeyes]

Selective enforcement--the new pattern.

Of course Bush is setting the most visible example of that with our lack of border control.

And, yes, Bush IS a LIBERAL.

 

[jnojr]

Is it not illegal to enforce a law that no longer exists?

Only if there's a penalty for doing so. And there isn't.

Take a gun into DC. You'll be arrested and charged. Eventually, you'll get out. They won't give your gun back. The officers who arrested you will not face charges. The prosecutor will not face charges. You can sue the city, and evenatually maybe get some cash, which comes out of the pockets of the taxpayers.

Until we fire, prosecute, and imprison police officers who enforce unConstitutional laws, they will continue to "follow orders".

 

[RNB65]

Only if there's a penalty for doing so. And there isn't.

The first time the DC Metro police seize a gun and/or charge someone under the code sections declared unconstitutional, the gun owner will go to Federal district court and get an injunction prohibiting the city from enforcing those laws. It will then be up to the DC police chief to decide if he's willing to go to jail for contempt of court by enforcing illegal laws. Federal judges really dislike being ignored and eventually they'll b****slap DC into obeying the law. But it may take a while.

 

[Cesiumsponge]

SafeStreetsDC.com

TEN WORST LARGE CITIES FOR MURDER, 2002 (pop 500,000+)

CITY PER 100,000
(1) Washington, DC 45.8
(2) Detroit 42.0
(3) Baltimore 38.3
(4) Memphis 24.7
(5) Chicago 22.2
(6) Philadelphia 19.0
(7) Columbus 18.1
(8) Milwaukee 18.0
(9) Los Angeles 17.5
(10) Dallas 15.8

Those gun laws really did an awesome job. You're #1!

 

[denfoote]

It's time for a gunshop to open up in DC, with the first customers escorted in by Federal troops!!!

 

[Car Knocker]

This guy is apparently ignoring a federal court decision - because HE doesn't like it - what crap!! These above-the-law offcials HAVE GOT TO go!

The Circuit Court decision remands the case to the District Court and directs the District Court on how to proceed - the Circuit Court decision does not order the D.C. government to do anything. The Mayor has not been served with a court order by the District Court judge hearing this matter. Therefore, he isn't ignoring anything and is not "above-the-law". Yet. Until he is issued an order by the District Court.

 

[NickEllis]

But if you take the dissenting judge's opinion that DC is not a state, would it still be illegal to transfer a firearm into DC, given (supposedly) that DC is not in fact a state? What makes it illegal to transfer a firearm into DC, or to purchase across the so-called "State" line, when there is no such thing?

DC has always been an abberation on both social and political grounds.

 

[MikePGS]

Mayor Adrian Fenty says the decision "flies in the face of laws that have helped decrease gun violence" in the city.

Thats pretty interesting, particularly since empirical evidence refutes this. Check out crime statistics from D.C. http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/dccrime.htm As you can see the murder rate kept climbing, spiking at about 1991, a full 15 years after the gun ban, and has somewhat tapered off as of presently. aggravated assaults, forcible rapes and vehicle thefts all appear to be pretty much unchanged. So where exactly is the proof that these laws have helped decrease gun violence? or is he saying that he would rather someone be raped with a knife to the throat as opposed to a gun to the head?

 

[romma]

I will be excited if DC could somehow go "shall issue"... Permits for all! Or Vermont style carry would be even better!

 

[gezzer]

Violation of a civil right under the cover of authority is a big time felony that can lead to jail for the officers and possible death penalty if the violation included deadly force.

 

[k_dawg]

Actually, the way I read the decision is that it would be easier to ban the 1 shot pistol because a legitimate argument could be made that it is not a common militia weapon. In other words, we could find ourselves in a situation where weapons used by Law Enforcement and our Military almost exclusively at this point are the very weapons that cannot be banned at all, only regulated under a strict scrutiny basis. So a requirement that you be trained reasonably (e.g. the equivalent of qualifying in Basic Training) in how to use a fully automatic weapon before you can take possession of said weapon might be upheld as long as it is not to onerous.

I had a similar thought.

Wouldn't be ironic if this ruling is upheld by the USSC, and together with Miller v39.. we have a situation where we can all freely own fully automatic M-16's, MP5's and the like.. and the hunting-only rifles are banned?

 

[k_dawg]

The first time the DC Metro police seize a gun and/or charge someone under the code sections declared unconstitutional, the gun owner will go to Federal district court and get an injunction prohibiting the city from enforcing those laws. It will then be up to the DC police chief to decide if he's willing to go to jail for contempt of court by enforcing illegal laws. Federal judges really dislike being ignored and eventually they'll b****slap DC into obeying the law. But it may take a while.

You mean like Ray Nagin?

See, they know the game. Nothing will happen to them.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Until we fire, prosecute, and imprison police officers who enforce unConstitutional laws, they will continue to "follow orders".

As mentioned above, this doesn't happen even when it's so blatant it's sickening, ie New Orleans.

One fired PD Chief, thats all that came of that mess.

 

[poor_richard]

Until we fire, prosecute, and imprison police officers who enforce unConstitutional laws, they will continue to "follow orders".

That is why I keep saying that we need to have minimum sentences for the law that states that, “If an agent of the government violates a citizens rights under color of law, then that agent is himself in violation of the law.” Give the law some teeth, otherwise it is meaningless.

 

[offthepaper]

It's time for a gunshop to open up in DC, with the first customers escorted in by Federal troops!!!

[/QUOTE]
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Oleg, that would be a cool image.

 

[Titan6]

Yellow Page listings

For laughs I checked the on line yellow pages for 'Gun Shops' in DC.

Only two results:
1. Outdoor Bass Pro Shop (they do not sell guns in this shop)

2. ATF office on Mass Ave!

I was tempted to call and ask...

 

[obxned]

I hope each and every person against who the unconstitutional law is enforced sues the city to the max. I am not sure, but in most cases involving a violation of an individual's Constitutional rights, the person violating such rights is not shielded by the organization (city of DC) employing them to perform the violation, but are each also individually open to law suit. That means the Mayor Bozo would be sued by every one, since he made that public statement, as well as the entire chain of command of the police department.

They are all 100% in danger of doing serious federal time for each count of violating the civil rights of each person they now persecute.

The mayor would never do jail time; he can easily plead 'insanity'.