Posted on 05/12/2011 3:17:46 AM PDT by marktwain
WASHINGTON - Michelle Lane is tired of waiting to get her guns, so she's going to federal court.
WTOP was first to report that Lane and all D.C. residents are temporarily unable to register handguns. The reason: The only licensed firearm dealer in the District is temporarily out of business because he lost his lease.
Federal law prohibits individuals from buying handguns in one state and transferring them to another state. That can only be facilitated by a licensed firearm dealer. Since the District has no gun stores, transfers are the only means for residents to buy and register their handguns. Rifles and shotguns are exempt from this law.
Lane is now suing the federal government and the state of Virginia, which is where she bought her handguns and where they remain.
In a complaint filed this week in federal court, Lane and a gun rights advocacy group, the Second Amendment Foundation, claim their constitutional rights have been violated.
"These provisions not only have the effect of barring District of Columbia residents from acquiring handguns, but also, generally, unjustifiably frustrate and make more expensive all Americans' attempts to obtain the handguns of their choice," the complaint says.
The complaint claims the federal prohibition on individuals transferring handguns from state to state themselves violates their Second Amendment right to own a gun.
The suit also alleges the law violates the Fifth Amendment right to equal protection under the law because it discriminates based upon where an individual lives.
The lawsuit also names Virginia's superintendent of state police, because Virginia law also requires gun buyers to list their state of residency.
The lawsuit was filed by Alan Gura, the attorney who won the Supreme Court case that overturned the District's longtime ban on handguns.
As for when Lane might be able to get her guns from the Virginia store where she purchased them several weeks ago, Charles Sykes -- the one licensed dealer in the District -- has informed the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that he's found a new location and hopes to reopen as soon as possible.
ATF and MPD have agreed to expedite Sykes' request for a change of address, meaning it could be just a matter of days before residents in the nation's capital can once again register handguns.
In DC, the word “expedite” means “some time, maybe, after I finish my vacation....next year.”
I find it hard to believe that there are no 01 FFL’s even in DC. Storefronts maybe but I would imagine there are several that could handle a transfer.
There aren't. They've all been shut down over the years by DC Rat government. This one store that lost it's lease is the last one, and there are suspicions that DC's government played a secret part in that, leaving its residents no other options, in light of Heller.
I thought the Repubicans (pro-gun(?)) took over the House?
Wazzzup with that?
Thisis DC man. They can figure up ways to screw you faster than you can take them to court for it.
I said from the beginning when the case was in the Supreme Court that DC would figure a way to screw gun owners.
You will never beat them. Laws and their intent mean nothing to the crap heads that run DC.
Don't forget that guns have been for all intents and purposes banned in the District for 40 years, and due to this same law, VA and MD residents can't purchase in DC, so how would any dealers have survived all this time? (Unless they're general purpose sporting goods stores who for whatever reason have endured the paperwork hassle to remain FFL's even though they could make no sales.)
Once again we see Alan Gura doing the yeoman’s work of the NRA for them.
I’m not talking about storefront but a guy doing transfers wherever.
I am talking about the transfer guys. There are none in DC. The city has shut them all down to get around Heller. That’s what this case will be about.
It used to be that FFLs were easier to get, and you could conduct transactions out of your residence as a part-time activity, and could go to customers homes with your guns to let them pick out what they wanted. Then the BATF tightened the rules considerably.
>I thought the Repubicans (pro-gun(?)) took over the House?
You know what’s funny: the citation of the Republican control of Congress when the Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) was terminated as proof of the Republican [Party] being pro-gun.
Why?
Because the AWB had a “sunset clause” and was self-termination. This means that the Republicans had to do nothing, LITERALLY, to ensure the AWB’s termination.
And honestly think back. What Federal Level laws/regulations concerning Guns has the Republican Party had a hand in repealing?
{Heller and McDonald and those were USSC cases and so the Republican party CANNOT take credit for those.}
Yeah, back in the early 1990s I bought a couple of nice surplus military rifles from a guy with a FFL who worked out of his garage at night after work. He no longer can do that because of BATF’s new rules and regulations.
Yes. Put in place during the Clinton administration, with the express purpose of reducing the number of FFL holders. Consider that. An agency pushing a regulation with the express purpose of reducing the numbers of license holders that they have to administer. It makes absolutely no sense from a bureaucratic perspective.
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