A ruling along these lines would be a major victory for advocates of gun owners' rights.
But the solicitor general devoted most of his brief, filed late Friday, to urging the court to move cautiously and to make clear that the 2nd Amendment does not threaten most current restrictions on guns and gun owners.
Clement also said the court should stop short of striking down the D.C. ordinance on its own. Instead, he said, the case should be sent back to a trial judge.
"The D.C. ban may well fail constitutional scrutiny" he said, because it totally forbids private citizens from having a handgun at home.
But such a ruling should not threaten other laws, he said. "Nothing in the 2nd Amendment properly understood . . . calls for invalidation of the numerous federal laws regulating firearms."
Under Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, the Bush administration in 2001 switched the Justice Department's long-standing support for gun control and adopted the view that the 2nd Amendment protects individuals' gun rights.
The solicitor general holds an unusual position in the government.
He is an appointee of the president in the Justice Department, representing the administration's view in court. At the same time, he has a duty to defend the laws passed by Congress, including in this instance the restrictions on machine guns and who can own a firearm.
The solicitor general is also an advisor to the Supreme Court. And usually, the briefs filed by his office carry more weight with the justices than any others.
The court will hear arguments in the D.C. case in late March.
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david.savage@latimes.com
