Heller became a household name in 2008 when SCOTUS sided with him against the District. His landmark case blew open gun control nationwide, and opened the door to later wins for civil rights. It dismissed the absurd notion that a militia was necessary for Americans to keep and bear arms. Resulting impacts have been felt in courts from New York to California. Most notably, Heller’s win led to restored carry rights to Illinoisans in McDonald v. Chicago.
Despite trouncing the nation’s capitol in court, the city government made it difficult to obey the new carry law. While DC is shall-issue, once you’ve got a permit, carrying in DC is difficult at best. They placed restrictions on where one can carry, from public land, to within 1,000′ of a visiting dignitary. Dignitaries don’t just stand in place the whole time, or announce their travel plans while visiting DC. While they are uncommon in most of the country, as you can imagine, it’s a regular thing in DC.
What isn’t uncommon though, is visiting other human beings in their homes, be it friends or clients. DC law made it a crime to carry in a residence without the property owner’s permission. Not satisfied with criminalizing hangouts, they also banned carrying in a church, without express permission. The laundry list of problems with DC’s carry laws is too long to cover here. Lets just leave it at “ballistic fingerprinting wasn’t even the worst of them”.
In light of this and many other issues with DC’s carry restrictions, Heller went back to court 3 more times. Winning some concessions, and losing others, he just won’t stop. Holding feet to the fire in DC seems to be his entire wheelhouse these days, and we’re glad for it. While some might expect Dick to kick back and relax at his age, it’s just not in him. Regardless, we’re thankful men like him exist to continue the fight against gun control, and look forward to another victory.
