The Supreme Court announced today its intention to hear the appeal of the D.C. gun ban case — in early 2008, with a decision to be made by about June. Expect a variety of statements from Presidential candidates over the next few months touching on issues like the Second Amendment, militias, states’ rights, gun control and activist/strict constitutionalist judges. Don’t expect to hear much of anything about giving D.C. denizens equal voting rights or anything, because that’s far too controversial. [Washington Post]

Gun nuts and anti-gun people are all waiting with breathless anticipation to see if the Supreme Court is going to take up the case against D.C.’s gun ban. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled last March that D.C.’s longstanding gun ban was unconstitutional and everyone’s been waiting for the Court to decide whether to take the appeal of that appeal. No one really knows if they’ll rule in favor of a broad interpretation of the whole “A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” thing or a more strict one, but I think people sense the irony that many of the same advocates who castigate judges for not being narrow enough in their interpretation of the law seem to like the broader definition in this case. Right? [NY Times]