District of Columbia v. Heller

Facts

The District of Columbia generally prohibited possession of handguns. Carrying an unregistered firearm was a crime, and the District barred registration of handguns. No one could carry a handgun without a license, though the chief of police could issue licenses for one-year periods. District law also required residents to keep lawfully owned firearms, such as registered long guns, unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock or similar device, unless the guns were at a place of business or being used for lawful recreational activities. Dick Heller was a District special police officer who was authorized to carry a handgun while on duty at the Thurgood Marshall Judiciary Building. He applied for a registration certificate for a handgun that he wished to keep at home. The District refused. Heller then sued in federal court on Second Amendment grounds. He asked the court to stop the District from enforcing the bar on registering handguns, the licensing requirement as it prohibited carrying a firearm in the home without a license, and the trigger-lock requirement as it prohibited the use of functional firearms in the home.

Issues

1. Does the Second Amendment protect an individual right to possess firearms that is not tied to service in a militia, including the use of arms for self-defense in the home?
2. Do the District's ban on handgun possession in the home and its requirement that lawful firearms in the home be kept disassembled or locked violate that right?

Holding

The District's ban on handgun possession in the home violates the Second Amendment, as does its requirement that lawful firearms in the home be kept inoperable, which bars their use for immediate self-defense. Assuming Heller is not disqualified, the District must let him register his handgun and must issue him a license to carry it in the home.