The recent lower, Federal court decision that the 2nd Amendment trumps handgun bans in D.C. cited a rather infamous case for precedent -- Dred Scott.

In that case, the court found that the federal government lacked the authority to abolish a slaveowner's property right in his slaves merely by outlawing slavery in new territories. No one contends "that Congress can make any law in a Territory respecting the establishment of religion, or the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press... [n]or can Congress deny to the people the right to keep and bear arms, nor the right to trial by jury," Chief Justice Roger Taney, writing for a 7-2 court, explained in the section Silberman cited.