'US News' Cover Story Covers DC v Heller

US News & World Report has as its cover story the landmark District of Columbia v Heller case, which will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in less than a week.

Two very good stories. A few hiccups here and there, but overall very strong: First, a piece titled "A Key Case On Gun Control" examines the case of Dick Heller. The first paragraph, IMHO, says it all:

"Dick Heller, a longtime resident of the District of Columbia, carries a handgun for his job as a private security guard. But at the end of his shift, he packs up the .38 revolver and stashes it in a vault. He would like to keep a gun for protection at his Capitol Hill home, where he has endured the sound of gunfire for years. But he can't, because D.C. law forbids it. "They give me a gun to protect them," he says of the government, "but I'm a second-class citizen when I finish work." "

"Them." Did you catch that?

Mr. Heller sums it all up. Denied a life-saving tool, he's a second class citizen. As is everyone else living in The District.

"It is the combination of these restrictions, among the most severe in the nation, that has made the D.C. law vulnerable to challenges by individuals claiming a right to self-defense. Wrote the National Rifle Association in a court brief: "Had Americans in 1787 been told that the federal government could ban the frontiersman in his log cabin, or the city merchant living above his store, from keeping firearms to provide for and protect himself and his family, it is hard to imagine that the Constitution would have been ratified.""

But there's this from a professor of public health policy:

"Even if the Supreme Court says [bearing arms] is an individual right, it's not likely to be the end of state and local government efforts to enact gun laws," says Jon Vernick, a public-health professor at Johns Hopkins University. "There are at least two parts to any answer to the question of what we might expect to see next: What does the Supreme Court say is permissible, and what do policymakers think is possible?"

The second piece, titled "In Congress, the Uphill Battle For Gun Control" looks at how gun control and registration proposals are a losing proposition for politicians. Why? Statistics that show four out of 10 Americans own a firearm, and that nearly three out of four Americans say that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms.

"The Democrats learned the perils of reviving the gun control issue during the 2000 presidential campaign when candidate Al Gore pledged to limit handgun sales, crack down on gun shows, and support state registration of firearms. It was a liberal position that some think cost him the vote in a few southern, pro-gun states, including his home state of Tennessee. For many Democrats, the lesson was clear: Gun control was a losing—and consuming—issue. "You can talk about guns, or you can talk about everything else," says Dane Strother, a Democratic media consultant. "If you start talking about guns, everyone bridles, be it pro-gun or antigun. You'll never make it to healthcare. You'll never make it to the economy."

I would suggest that that's an understatement. Gun control has never been about crime control. It's been about making the citizenry that much more reliant on government. And even die-hard union guys who vote democrat for a myriad of reasons, be they perceived benefits, pressure from unions, or because their dad, and granddad voted democrat . . . well, when you start talking about taking away their firearms, people of all stripes take notice. We had one guy come through a gun safety class we taught several years ago, saying he was an anarchist. He believed in liberal causes and believed in gun control, but wanted to buy one before such sales were eventually banned at sometime in the future. Hmmm . . .

"On the streets of D.C.'s rougher neighborhoods today, it's hard to see how the handgun ban has made much of an impact on crime. Last year, homicides—about 80 percent of which are caused by firearms—were up 7 percent from the year before, to 181. That makes D.C.'s one of the highest per capita murder rates in the country."

And here's the best quote of the story:

"Says police officer James Boteler Jr.: "Most of the guns we're recovering are from people who, even without the ban, would not be allowed to have one anyway." But, he adds, the ban doesn't hurt, either."

Actually, the ban is doing little, if anything to stop crime. DC is one of the most dangerous cities in the nation. Still, at least Officer Boteler is honest.

Read both stories then send them to your friends.

h/t to TMR