1/08/2011

Second Amendment Wins Again

First, it's the New Hampshire legislature changing its rules to allow legislators and staffers to carry their guns inside the Statehouse.

Next, it's the District of Columbia's highest court deciding people who pled guilty or were convicted and jailed for violating DC's unconstitutional gun ban (overturned in DC vs Heller) have their convictions set aside.

“A conviction for conduct that is not criminal, but is instead constitutionally protected, is the ultimate miscarriage of justice,” and a defendant can therefore ask to have it set aside (via a petition for coram nobis relief) even many years later.

Despite the fact of DC vs Heller, the District of Columbia still has difficult roadblocks to gun ownership, in effect restricting gun ownership by law abiding citizens. If I recall correctly, there are a number of suits in progress dealing with DC's procrastination and obstructionism in regards to the Second Amendment. The city's government doesn't seem to care that it has one of the highest violent death rates in the nation, doesn't care that it has left its law abiding citizens without the means to defend themselves. They also ignore the Justice Department's own figures showing violent crimes of all kinds are miniscule in states allowing citizens to own and carry guns compared to those states and cities that don't. You'd think they'd get a clue. But then again, it's really about power and controlling the populace and not actually protecting them (or letting them protect themselves).

Washington DC is trying to buck the trend seen in the rest of the country, where gun laws are being struck down or modified to allow citizens to arm themselves. As this has been happening the crime rates in those states have gone down. Yet another lesson that will be ignored by the Powers-That-Be in DC.