It took an extra day, but this morning Dick Anthony Heller submitted to the District's registration laws and applied to keep his .22-caliber revolver legally at home for self-defense.

In the Washington Post:

Heller entered police headquarters, at 300 Indiana Ave. NW, carrying his weapon in a bright red satchel. At a reception counter that had been set up in the lobby for handgun-registration applicants, Heller removed the revolver from the bag and handed it to a police officer. The gun is a 9-shot, blue-steel Harrington & Richardson "Longhorn" model, in the style of sidearms traditionally carried in the Old West.

In addition to being fingerprinted, Heller was slated to take a written test on gun safety and complete other paper work, after which the gun would be returned to him, unloaded.

"I still have to go through this long process," Heller said to a crowd of reporters following him. "It just doesn't make sense to me. But we are starting the process."

In addition to the ballistics analysis, officials will conduct background checks on Heller and other applicants, looking for a history of criminal violations or mental illness, either of which could result in an application being denied.

[more]

See also Reason's coverage.

This, according to Justice Scalia's order to the District of Columbia in the historic decision that bears Mr. Heller's name:

Assuming that Heller is not disqualified from the exercise of Second Amendment rights, the District must permit him to register his handgun and must issue him a license to carry it in the home.

Again, certainly not the decision the Brady Center fought for.

Yet it is fascinating to watch the winner of the biggest Second Amendment case in American history submit to the registration of his handgun, a ballistics record of the weapon, fingerprinting, a written test, and a thorough background check in order to legally keep it at home.

The "slippery slope" is becoming flatter by the day.

Mr. Heller's registration may well come to symbolize the balance that many elected officials will strike between gun rights and responsibilities, individual prerogatives and public safety, after the Supreme Court's landmark gun decision.