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District Of Columbia Vs Heller Summary

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District of Columbia v Heller Case name: District of Columbia v Heller Case number: 554 US. 570 The Facts: The case, DC V Heller, was heard out in 2008 by the supreme court. This case originally started by a man known as Heller who wanted to legally own a working firearm at home for self defense purposes. He applied for a handgun, but his application was denied (LII). Heller sued DC, and wanted justice against the right to bear arms . Heller said that the District of Columbia was violating the second amendment, the right to bear arms (Oyez). The outcome of the original case resulted in (5-4) “guarantees an individual right to possess firearms independent of service in a state militia and to use firearms for traditionally lawful purposes, including …show more content…

This side was Heller and they argued that the District of Columbia was violating the second amendment. He explained that they were violating the second amendment by not allowing him to own a functioning firearm with a license. The court says, that a “militia” is a prefatory clause that does not limit the operative clause of the Amendment (Oyez). The amendment doesn’t limit the right to bear arms to those in the military, since it was made to protect the people’s rights. Antonin Scalia agreed with Heller, he said to read the second amendment to only allow military force to carry a working firearm would be violating the purpose of the English Bill of Rights. 2. Respondent The side that defends the case to the Supreme Court is called the Respondent. This side was The District of Columbia, and they argued that the second amendment does not create an unlimited right to possess a functioning firearm for self-defense purposes. Justice Stevens (Find Law) argues that the amendment only states that the those may only own a gun if serving the military. Justices David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen G. Breyer agreed. They argued that the the second amendment protects militia-related but nothing about self-defense related interests. Opinion of the …show more content…

He said that the second amendment does not create an unlimited right to possess guns for self defense purposes. (Oyez). The site, Oyez said: “Justice Stevens also notes that “the people” does not enlarge the protected group beyond the context of service in a state-regulated militia. This reading is in line with legal writing of the time that contextualizes the Amendment in relation to state militias and post-enactment legislative history (Oyez).” The following Justices also agreed with the Dissenting Opinion: Stevens, Stouter, Ginsburg, Breyer. Justice Breyer also wrote a separate dissent in which he argued that the Second Amendment protects militia-related, not self-defense-related, interests, and it does not provide absolute protection from government intervention in these interests.

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