Sweet: Dick Heller finally gets a gun permit
posted at 4:29 pm on August 18, 2008 by Allahpundit
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He was 34 years old when the D.C. city council took his rights away. Today, as a senior citizen, he got them back. Sort of.
Dick A. Heller, a security guard whose lawsuit resulted in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling favoring gun-ownership rights, was given his handgun registration certificate at D.C. police headquarters this morning. He applied for it last month, a few weeks after the June 26 court ruling, and had been waiting for police to complete a background check.
Why “sort of”? Because, as you’ll recall, his application to register another gun was rejected thanks to D.C.’s bad faith attempt to define as a “machine gun” any weapon that loads from the bottom. So it’s back to court he’s going. Maybe he’ll get to register his semi-automatic before he turns 100.
Here’s video of him from last month talking about the rejected application.
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I’ll take the victory. Hope he celebrates it well before continuing to fight on.
Esthier on August 18, 2008 at 4:34 PM
Happy for the ol’timer, but sad that this isn’t the victory I hoped it would be.
LimeyGeek on August 18, 2008 at 4:37 PM
Well,I usually carry two or three speed loads for my CC weapon of choice “Snuffy” the revolver… so much for them thinking they can ban automatics…..heh heh heh
MNDavenotPC on August 18, 2008 at 4:39 PM
I now carry a semi-auto Bren gun which loads from the top.
Bishop on August 18, 2008 at 4:41 PM
Well done Dick, the NRA, and the 2nd amendment. One step at a time to keep the bad guys from doing us harm and protect ourselves.
L
letget on August 18, 2008 at 4:44 PM
Coming soon:
Media heartache pieces detailing the upward trend of violent criminals being injured or killed (much like the piece lamenting Iraqi gravediggers losing work). So predictable.
JimRich on August 18, 2008 at 4:44 PM
I wonder if “pump-action Super Soakers” fall in that category…
MB007 on August 18, 2008 at 4:44 PM
God Bless the Supreme Court of The United States of America!
sabbott on August 18, 2008 at 4:46 PM
Sweet!
Weebork on August 18, 2008 at 4:52 PM
To all those whining about McCain:
get over yourselves, losers.
You’re acting like spoiled brats who can’t get the “hottie” to go to prom with them, so they won’t go at all.
All of our candidates lost to McCain in the primaries, get over it you babies.
And about Liebermann as VP, I’m against it, but I’d rather vote for Liebermann as President than allow Barry to run the entire free world.
/rant
omnipotent on August 18, 2008 at 4:53 PM
oops, my rant above was to point out that McCain will help keep our gun rights, Barry won’t.
omnipotent on August 18, 2008 at 4:54 PM
I agree, here in the S.F. Bay area when a criminal gets shot or killed by police, or a store or homeowner trying to protect themselves, it’s a “tragedy”. Then again this is the Bay Area.
Sanjoboy on August 18, 2008 at 4:54 PM
I should add that as more and more people in D.C. lawfully use firearms to defend themselves the headlines will be along the lines of “Gun Violence on the Rise in D.C.,” since the MSM sees a person defending his family as being the moral equivalent of a crook shooting a store clerk.
JimRich on August 18, 2008 at 4:55 PM
“Violent criminals being injured or killed” is a feature, not a bug.
mojo on August 18, 2008 at 4:56 PM
I hope he gets another victory on the aemi-automatic issue! The lawyer that carefully shepherded this case along also deserves recognition. They both did us all a huge favor.
Jill1066 on August 18, 2008 at 4:56 PM
Astounding recalcitrance by the DC police. Unless I missed a new constitutional amendment, SCOTUS has the last say, and Scalia’s majority opinion could not have been more clear if he had drawn them pictures. Congress can and should suspend funding of the DC local government until they comply with the law of the land.
lionheart on August 18, 2008 at 4:58 PM
Probably… but if it could be loaded with another wet substance and shot… would it be concidered a “WMD”?
upinak on August 18, 2008 at 5:00 PM
One less Democratic voter. Of course it’s a tragedy.
MarkTheGreat on August 18, 2008 at 5:03 PM
I read that his gun is only a .22 Revolver.
Not much in the way of defense. I would have at least gone with .44 mag like Dirty Harry!
:)
dc84123 on August 18, 2008 at 5:07 PM
It’s still a crock that he has to get a permit and register his gun(s). Do reporters in DC have to get a permit to write news stories? Do bloggers in DC? Do politicians?
He’s a law abiding citizen. This is another example of liberals putting restrictions on honest citizens that they know criminals won’t abide by.
If I ever have to move to DC it will be with my entire gun collection and to heck with their registration process.
BowHuntingTexas on August 18, 2008 at 5:22 PM
How many chambers in the cylinder though? I bet he can put ‘em all into a quarter at 10 yards ;-) That’s lethal right there!
LimeyGeek on August 18, 2008 at 5:25 PM
Yep, every time someone does actually shoot a perp in their home (instead of the un-reported scare-em-off) the BSM will condemn the “vigilante, who took the law into his own hands, and ended the life of the promising young street artist” who just happened to also be a crack-head, thief, burglar and rapist.
Rodent on August 18, 2008 at 5:42 PM
I’d say, go with an 8 round S&W or Taurus revolver.
They can be pretty fast.
Frozen Tex on August 18, 2008 at 5:48 PM
His right to KEEP and BEAR arms shall not be infringed……….
End of story.
TheSitRep on August 18, 2008 at 6:08 PM
HEY! He’s not that old – Dammit!
UndertheBridge on August 18, 2008 at 6:58 PM
Note to the clueless folks in D.C.
Michael Savage said it best – “Liberalism is a form of mental illness.”
MichelleFanClub on August 18, 2008 at 7:26 PM
You do know that street punks are victims of society, and muggings, armed robberies, and home invasions are simply an extreme form of performance art to dramatize their plight at the hands of those more fortunate that they are, don’t you?
/do I really need the “sarc” tag?
Or at least, that’s how they are viewed by the “enlightened elite’”, who never need to worry about the D.C. authorities refusing their hired
thugsbodyguards permits for their Mini-Uzis and Glock 18 machine pistols.After all, they are constantly under threat- from the rest of us. (In their own bizarre, narcissistic, histrionic imaginations, at least.)
And don’t like even being bothered by street mimes, let alone the “oppressed youth” of the District.
cheers
eon
eon on August 18, 2008 at 7:42 PM
Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. Bravo Mr. Heller.
Mojave Mark on August 18, 2008 at 8:04 PM
It’s frightening that we have a close 5/4 SCOTUS vote to uphold RKBA that’s obviously written in plain language in the 2nd Amendment… and previous to that, a close 5/4 SCOTUS vote confirming that enemy combatants that seek to destroy us have rights of due process; the text of which cannot be found anywhere in our Constitution.
Pathetic.
electric-rascal on August 18, 2008 at 8:08 PM
machine guns load from the side.
AbaddonsReign on August 18, 2008 at 8:50 PM
“Here’s your permit, Dick. Now go home, dissasemble your revolver – lock up the different parts in different safes and lock the safes in different rooms. When someone breaks into your house, call us up and we’ll let you know if the situation seems serious enough for us to allow you begin the distasteful process of reassembling your gun.
If you get the answering machine, leave us a message and we’ll get back to you…”
eeyore on August 18, 2008 at 9:01 PM
That may be the only revolver he owned. If I understand it correctly, it’s almost impossible to bring a gun into D.C. legally. Can’t buy one in another state and carrt it in, and no D.C. FFL’s willing to do the transfers.
What I wonder is, can the D.C. pols be charged with contempt of SCOTUS?
Catseye on August 18, 2008 at 9:11 PM
Sorry…carry it in.
Catseye on August 18, 2008 at 9:13 PM
Good! Hope Heller sues the fools until they recognize the difference between a semi-automatic pistol and a fully automatic weapon. My personal preference in heaters is the old reliable 1911 model .45 Colt, but the .44 magnum revolver will do nicely as a substitute.
And yes, the exit of self-selecting thugs and hoodlums from the gene pool IS a feature, not a bug for a truly civilized society. Back a century ago people didn’t lose any sleep over the demise of burglars who encountered armed home owners, or bandits who made the mistake of annoying well armed express messengers. If the concern about encountering armed citizens causes some of DC’s less successful residents to leave, or change their choice of criminal occupations, that is a net gain.
Orson Buggeigh on August 18, 2008 at 10:26 PM
It was good, and I congratulate you all on it, but I suspect this is the last Supreme Court victory you’re going to see in a very, very long time.
Gaunilon on August 19, 2008 at 12:22 AM
Celebrate as they do in the middle-east. Fire a few rounds into the air!!
AmericanDad on August 19, 2008 at 12:36 AM
You watch too much TV there “americandad”.
We have to start somewhere. Hopefully D.C. will quit selecting the rights it believes people ” should ” have.
“….Shall NOT infringe…” is pretty clear.
tx2654 on August 19, 2008 at 7:51 AM
Equating a 9mm or other weapon that has a magazine in its handle to a machine gun shows that those making decisions in D.C. are delusional.
If their definition holds then I would simply buy a 50mm that loads its ammunition from the top and its projectiles (bullets for those in Rio Linda) are held together by a bandallero in a box of 500 + and can be fired at 100 rounds per minute.
The only limiting factor of this weapon is that it is difficult to conceal but legal by D.C. definitios.
MSGTAS on August 19, 2008 at 10:10 AM
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