Press Releases

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett Applauds the D.C. Circuit Court’s Decision to Protect the Use of a Handgun Inside Your Home

Washington, Mar 9, 2007 -

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett applauded the decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today that the Second Amendment protects the use of a handgun inside a citizen’s home. Congressman Bartlett said, “The court’s conclusion is well-reasoned that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms.”

In Parker v. District of Columbia, the court rejected the lower court’s narrow view of Second Amendment rights. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals stated, “The Amendment does not protect ‘the right of militiamen to keep and bear arms,’ but rather ‘the right of the people.’” The court reasoned, “The Bill of Rights was almost entirely a declaration of individual rights, and the Second Amendment’s inclusion therein strongly indicates that it, too, was intended to protect personal liberty.”

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett said, “If we are to honor and uphold our Constitution, the right to keep and bear arms cannot be infringed. I have reintroduced H.R. 73, The Citizens’ Self-Defense Act, to protect the right of law-abiding citizens to obtain firearms for security, and to use firearms in defense of themselves, family, or their home, and to provide for the enforcement of that right.”

The court noted that four of the six residents who appealed to the D.C. Circuit Court wanted to possess handguns in their respective homes for self-defense. They were not asserting a right to carry such weapons outside their homes.

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett said that that, “This decision was important not only for its decision but also for its reasoning and clear support for the intent of our Nation’s founders to protect individual rights in the Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment.”

Among the key parts of the court’s reasoning was its statement, “That right existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution and was premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat from abroad).”

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision was a 2-to-1 decision. The court reversed the decision by the District Court for the District of Columbia.