District Leaders Announce New Handgun Regulations

The Washington Post ^ | July 14, 2008 | Robert E. Pierre and Marcia Davis

[Bubba_Leroy]

District residents will be able to keep a handgun in the home for self-defense but that right would be limited to the home and not outside it, city leaders said today, announcing new gun regulations in response to the Supreme Court's recent ruling striking down the city's handgun ban.

Gun owners will have to pass vision and written tests, provide a photo with their application to register a gun, and submit their weapon for ballistics testing. Guns will also still require trigger locks.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and interim Attorney General Peter J. Nickles announced the regulations alongside D.C. Council Chairman Vincent G. Gray (D), Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) and several other council members.

The regulations are an effort to maintain some gun control while complying with the Supreme Court's 5 to 4 ruling last month.

[kAcknor]

of those are good locks,

Most I seem to get are manufacturer supplied to fit the gun, or cheap POS’s to fit the law...

[BCR #226]

Reply to post #44...

No new suit needed in this instance, SCOTUS may be petitioned directly with a complaint by Heller’s team that DC is violating the court order opening the door for SCOTUS to enforce their ruling as they see fit.

I suspect that DC has no idea how hard SCOTUS is able to hit them with enforcement.

DC can’t afford to fight another lawsuit and they can’t justify the expense to the tax payers.

Fenty HAS to be a pro-gunner. No one is so stupid as Fenty has seemed...

Mike

[goldstategop]

They don't really get it. The right of self defense cannot be conditioned on having to take tests and installing "trigger locks" on your guns, which nullify the effective exercise of that right. Look for DC's leaders to be hauled back into federal court. They're not implementing Heller ; they're trying to strangle it to death with unconstitutional regulations. And what good is a right if you require the government's permission to have it?

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[kAcknor]

Yea, were it only that easy...

[goldstategop]

The tests smack ironically enough of the poll tax and other ingenious regulatory schemes Southern states employ to deny blacks their full voting rights. The government CANNOT condition a right on your having to meet or pass any kind of test or to pay any kind of fee or tax. If that's present, its a privilege, not a right. Guns are in a different category from motor vehicles. There's no constitutional right to drive a car while there is a constitutional right to bear and keep arms. The courts understand the distinction while DC's government pretends not to.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[glock rocks]

I guess we can hope there’s an asskickin on the hoof. Should be interesting to see how this plays out...

[Amerigomag]

We have the same nonsense in Arnoldlandia.

California's lock laws only involve transport in a vehicle or storage when minors are present, not use.

A firearm on the nightstand, under the pillow or in a holster on the hip is neither storage nor transport.

[MinorityRepublican]

F U DC!

[Gilbo_3]

Respectfully Sir, until there are real consequences to pay for this 'bite me' attitude, there wont be ay 'change' in Washington...DC or otherwise...

Its obviously time to oil the pitchforks and light some torches...

Any minute now we'll hear the fed goon squad decending on the council assembly...

ANY MINUTE NOW...

/Crickets...

LFOD...

[Enterprise]

Definitely a pass the popcorn moment. Imagine that, a literacy test for a Constitutional right! What to do, what to do. As Raster Master pointed out, this is normal for the Democrats. (It’s in their genes!)

[FreedomPoster]

What if you move in from another state where you have legally purchased firearms?

[Gilbo_3]

Indiana is pure 'shall issue'...NO testing BS period...

pass the state background check and youre in...renew is simply paying the fee before expiration...

[GreenLanternCorps]

This law will not stand. Under Heller it is clear that both the trigger lock requirement and the ban on semi-automatic pistols are in violation of the Constitution. This will be overturned in short order.

[Gilbo_3]

I suspect that DC has no idea how hard SCOTUS is able to hit them with enforcement.

What could the supremes really do ???

Id like to compare that vs what they might actually talk about doing...

[supercat]

This law will not stand.

Those rules are not law. Any statutes, ordinances, rulings, regulations, or other rules which were unconstitutional when written are and always have been illegitimate. Such rules were not, and are not, law.

That doesn't mean people who refuse to comply with the illegitimate demands made by such rules won't be unjustly punished for such refusal, but the ability of government agents to impose their illegitimate will does not make that will legitimate.

[supercat]

What could the supremes really do ???

I'd like to see the Supremes pass a ruling to this effect (never happen I know, though maybe a lesser version could):

1. All free persons have the right to keep and bear arms. No institution of government may legitimately disarm anyone without first demonstrating why he may not be regarded as a free person.
2. No statute or other rule shall be enforced in such a way as to impose a material burden upon anyone's exercise of the right to keep and bear arms.
3. Grand juries and petit juries are to be instructed that regardless of anything else a judge or anyone else may say, no free person should be convicted or held liable to the government for non-compliance with a rule or regulation that would have imposed an undue burden on their exercise of the right to keep and bear arms.
4. In all criminal jury proceedings, and all civil jury proceedings involving the government as plaintiff, the defendant has the right to demand that the jury be supplied a copy of this ruling and instructed to read it. If the state fails to comply with the demand, the defendant shall be entitled to demand a retrial.
5. In jury trials involving the government as defendant, the plaintiff shall have the right to demand that a copy of this ruling be supplied to the jury, similar to the right defined above for criminal defendants.

Think that would have some teeth?

[hiredhand]

Hmmm...The mayor of D.C. and his cronies commit contempt of court against the Supreme Court Of the United States?! They should issue a bench warrant and send the Federal Marshals to arrest them and jail them!....

NOW

[Eric Blair 2084]

Gun owners will have to pass vision and written tests, provide a photo with their application to register a gun, and submit their weapon for ballistics testing. Guns will also still require trigger locks.

Criminals with guns can be legally blind, illiterate, have no ID, shave off the serial number and laugh.

[Mariner]

"Take the individuals who wrote , presented and passed this BS to court. The people who do this to other citizens can not hide behind a shield of office when they attempt too circumvent a “proven” constitutional right too keep and bear arms "!

When it comes to those individual rights assured by the Constitution and enumerated in the first 10 Amendments, precedent shows you can sue INDIVIDUALS within government entities in addtion to the entities themselves.

Sue the Mayor and every member of the Council who voted for this crap.

Sue 'em for everything they have.

[RasterMaster]