Ignoring the court

It's been barely three weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Second Amendment, tossing the District of Columbia's strict ban on handgun ownership as an unconstitutional infringement on the individual right to bear arms.

As you'd expect, D.C. officials have been busy little bureaucrats since then, trying to figure out a way to get around the high court's decision.

On Monday, the D.C. council announced emergency legislation designed to update the gun ban. As expected, it's a joke.

Instead of simply acknowledging that individuals have a right to own handguns in the district, the legislation would still require that all firearms be kept in the home unloaded and disassembled or equipped with trigger locks.

Some handguns would be allowed, but only those that carry fewer than 12 rounds of ammunition.

Those who wish to register a handgun in the district must pass a battery of tests and will be limited at first to only one weapon.

In other words: Purchase a handgun, but if you're lucky enough to jump through the registration and regulatory hoops, don't count in a practical sense on ever being able to use it to defend your home.

"Clearly, D.C. is doing everything they can to ignore the Supreme Court ruling," said Chris W. Cox, an NRA lobbyist.

The district is setting itself up to lose another costly legal challenge. Last time we checked, D.C. wasn't so flush with cash money that it could afford to keep its lawyers focused on finding ways around the Bill of Rights rather than attempting to comply with them.