With An Idea And Some Good Clients

"But I live in Naples, Florida, in a gated community. I don't feel real threatened down here." So says the architect of the lawsuit that did away with the District of Columbia gun-control law. The lawyer who conceived the attack on the gun control law is not some radical militia man. He does not even own a gun, but thinks he might want one if he were living in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill. Nor is he a member of, as he has put it, "one of those pro-gun groups." No, he's a guy who says his only interest is "in vindicating the the Constitution."

Once a D.C. native, he now is a constitutional fellow with the Cato Institute, a libertarian Washington think tank, and works out of his expensive Naples condo. His successful suit against the D.C. gun law was the result of carefully selecting the plaintiffs in the suit and carefully crafting their desired outcome.

He is one of three lawyers involved with the case, which is probably headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, since the District of Columbia says it will appeal. You would think that would be expensive. Yes, it is. "To take something like this all the way through the Supreme Court, you're talking about several hundred thousand dollars," he has said. Because, however, his counsel are charging a reduced rate, "it hasn't been nearly that much."

Hum . . . , where was this guy when TAMPOA needed him?