Handguns, automatic weapons etc (Score 1)

The founding fathers lived in a different world... it will most likely never be the case that the populace has any impetus to dissent to the point of taking up arms in modern times. The government has no reason to show up at your doorstep with a gun while you're being a good little consumer and you haven't the desire to brandish about an arsenal of automatic weaponry with a steady job, family, property on the line. The will of the average citizen has been proven to be quite malleable and, more importantly, largely inconsequential in a state of relative prosperity and comfort - too much to risk for some abstract ideals. This holds until the standard of living takes a nosedive and one actually could potentially stand to gain materially by uprising violently. Having said that, as apprehensive as one might be about the 2nd Amendment (myself included), it may seem difficult to disagree with the ruling as it is a matter of relatively clear interpretation: a outright ban on firearms would be unconstitutional. However the problem lies with the details of the ban which prohibits only certain weapons (handguns, automatics, high-cap semiautos and unregistered) seemingly leaving room for semi-automatic rifles/shotguns etc (I could be wrong). It is more of a strict regulation rather than an actual ban on arms, thus the DC firearms control act does not appear to be an unequivocal violation of the 2nd Amendment. I'd have to dig through more details for a conclusive opinion.