A significant win for gun rights—a federal judge has ruled unconstitutional the federal ban on interstate handgun transfers.
The plaintiffs argued that the ban infringes on their constitutional rights, “limits their choices as consumers, harms competition in the market, and raises prices.”
In his decision, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division wrote that the ban is particularly indefensible since it doesn’t restrict a particular type of person or conduct, but burdens any law-abiding citizens:
The lawsuit was brought by a couple from Washington D.C., Andrew and Tracey Hanson, and Texas firearms dealer Fredric Mance Jr. The Hansons had attempted to purchase two handguns from Mance, but federal law would have first required Mance to transfer the guns to another licensed dealer in D.C., where the Hansons could then purchase the guns—after paying for shipping and transferring them.
In order to place a restriction on buying legal, constitutionally-protected items, the government would have had to prove a narrowly tailored compelling interest. The judge concluded that the government defendants “have not shown that the federal interstate handgun transfer ban is narrowly tailored to be the least restrictive means of achieving the Government’s goals under current law. The federal interstate handgun transfer ban is therefore unconstitutional on its face.”
“As law abiding, responsible citizens, the Hansons likely do not pose the threat to public safety that motivated Congress to enact the federal interstate handgun transfer ban,” O’Connor wrote.
“It is bizarre and irrational to destroy the national market for an item that Americans have a fundamental right to purchase,” said Alan Gura, the plaintiffs’ attorney. “Americans would never tolerate a ban on the interstate sale of books or contraceptives. And Americans are free to buy rifles and shotguns outside their state of residence, so long as the dealers respect the laws of the buyer’s home state. We’re gratified that the Court agreed that handguns should be treated no differently.”
Gura also worked on the landmark case that overturned D.C.’s handgun ban.
