Smith v. Dist. of Columbia

Royce C. Lamberth, United States District Judge

To stem the tide of violent crime, the District of Columbia has spent decades enacting some of the strictest gun control measures in the country. But despite these laudable ends, the District's means have precipitated repeated tugs-of-war against *13law-abiding citizens, with the federal courts as the referee and the Second Amendment as the touchstone.

The District has not been on a winning streak. In 2008, the Supreme Court struck down a D.C. law banning all handgun possession. See District of Columbia v. Heller , 554 U.S. 570, 128 S.Ct. 2783, 171…