Well, as you undoubtedly have heard, the full D.C. Circuit decided to deny the District of Columbia’s petition for en banc review of the Parker decision.
As you may recall, I got into something of a tiff over this decision, and efforts in Congress to preempt DC law, with one of the attorney’s who filed the case. Essentially I stated (well, no, this is exactly what I stated - emphasis added to this post.)
My presumption is that your allegation is incorrect (or at least not fully correct) because passage of the DC Personal Protection Act is no different than if the DC Government decided to drop its appeal (which they would be forced to) and revise its law pursuant to Parker. Remember, at this point and assuming the full DC circuit doesn’t reverse, the decision whether to petition for a writ of cert rests with DC not you. If it was the other way around, and DC had won and you were petitioning SCOTUS, I would agree with you, but that’s not how the case is playing out.
Gura responded, a bit passionately
I don’t “shoot from the hip,†or rely on gut feelings or wishful thinking. I would not be taking a public position about a piece of legislation without being sure of its effects.
Then, after talking about standards of review and not addressing my basic underlying point that the decision to appeal to the Supreme’s rests with DC not Parker, went on to state
I’m not going to engage in some strained hypothetical exercise that would distinguish our situation should the current legislation become law prior to the final issuance of the mandate. The law is very clear on this topic and it is pointless to debate it.
And he is right. It is pointless to debate his position, because his is the only hypothetical. Still, to this day, the decision on whether to appeal rests with the District of Columbia, and while gunnies think the Supreme Court is going to take it (Eugene Volokh handicaps it at 50%), the decision to appeal is D.C.’s. And don’t think they aren’t taken direction from the gun banning bigots at Brady.
Frankly, I don’t see this going any further and think Congressional action is likely going to be the only savior to DC residents, and here’s why. The D.C. Circuit pretty much admitted it would allow D.C. to regulate guns pretty damn strenuously, but in Parker had serious problems with the notion of an outright ban.
OK. So what are the bigots facing. They could either appeal to the Supreme against odds that might eventually make their job much more difficult and result in a decision that would likely undermine much of what they worked for over the last 4 decades OR they could accept the decision and return to DC and pass draconian gun laws, nearly as restrictive but ultimately allowing some right (however negligible) to register new guns while at the same time imposing tremendous regulatory hurdles to any gun shop actually opening up in DC (and therefore undermining that right) and developing a permit approval system that combined with the usual level of D.C. incompetence, effectively accomplishes the same thing as the current ban.
Now, if you were Adrian Fenty and Sarah Brady what would you want. The clear loss that amounts to a stake driven through the heart of your barely breathing policy positions? Or a loss that they can easily spin as supportive of hyper aggressive gun laws?
Yep. Thats what I thought.
And lookee here. All of a sudden, Adrian Fenty (criminal in chief, he can still kiss my smelly white ass) isn’t so hot on appealing to the Supreme Court. Now, instead of vowing to
do everything in our power to work to get the decision overturned, and we will vigorously enforce our handgun laws during that time.
he will simply review his options.
Of course, Helmke is certainly aware of this.
Paul Helmke, of the pro-gun control Brady Center, said today he thinks the Supreme Court will want to settle the matter, and the appeals court’s decision today not to take the case with the full panel of judges speeds up the process in a “politically interesting” way.
“We’ve expected all along this would go the Supreme Court,” Helmke said. “The crucial thing is it gets it there quicker. If the court takes the case, there’s a chance there’ll be a ruling before the presidential election.
Yeah, ya see. He understands the political implications. And there is simply no way those play to the strength of his hand.
Nope, I’m calling their bluff. I still don’t think they appeal. I just hope Alan Gura’s whining hasn’t ruined the chances of the D.C. Personal Protection Act passing Congress.
(Of course, I hope I am proved wrong and Helmke and Fenty appeal and we win, I just don’t see it playing out that way)
