Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf
Page Number: 4

Cite as:  554 U. S. ____ (2008) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash­
ington,  D. C.  20543,  of  any  typographical  or  other  formal  errors,  in  order
that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 07–290 
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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ET AL., PETITIONERS v.
 
DICK ANTHONY HELLER 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
 
APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
 

[June 26, 2008] 

JUSTICE SCALIA delivered the opinion of the Court. 
We consider whether a District of Columbia prohibition 
on the possession of usable handguns in the home violates 
the Second Amendment to the Constitution. 

I 
The District of Columbia generally prohibits the posses­
sion  of  handguns.    It  is  a  crime  to  carry  an  unregistered 
firearm,  and  the  registration  of  handguns  is  prohibited. 
See  D. C.  Code  §§7–2501.01(12),  7–2502.01(a),  7– 
2502.02(a)(4)  (2001).  Wholly  apart  from  that  prohibition, 
no person may carry a handgun without a license, but the 
chief  of  police  may  issue  licenses  for  1-year  periods.  See 
§§22–4504(a),  22–4506.    District  of  Columbia  law  also 
requires  residents  to  keep  their  lawfully  owned  firearms,
such as registered long guns, “unloaded and disassembled 
or  bound  by  a  trigger  lock  or  similar  device”  unless  they
are  located  in  a  place  of  business  or  are  being  used  for 
lawful recreational activities.  See  §7–2507.02.1 

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1 There  are  minor  exceptions  to  all  of  these  prohibitions,  none  of

which is relevant here.