DC trying to get around the Heller ruling.
 

Just unreal. No semi-autos, two passport photos, gun must be kept disassembled/locked in the home. I hope the lawsuits bankrupt this toilet of an excuse for a city. So glad I don't have to work there anymore.

First Day For Handgun Registration Gets Little Turnout

By Paul Duggan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 17, 2008; 11:04 AM


In the first hours of the first day that it was legally possible to register handguns in the nation's capital, only one person showed up to do so--and he was turned away because he didn't bring his weapon with him.

Capitol Hill resident Dick A. Heller, whose lawsuit prompted the landmark Supreme Court ruling that scuttled the city's strict firearms control laws, arrived at D.C. police headquarters at 6:30 a.m., 30 minutes before the new gun registration process was scheduled to begin.

Heller, accompanied by his attorney, was met on the steps of the building by a cluster of camera crews and Lt. Jon Shelton, head of the firearms registration unit. In an animated discussion, police explained to Heller that he needed to show officials the guns he wanted to register -- and allow them to be test-fired -- as part of the registration process.

Heller's attorney, Dane von Breichenruchardt, said Heller owns at least two handguns -- a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and a 9-shot, .22-caliber revolver -- and has stored them for years with a friend in Maryland. Although officials said that gun owners in Heller's situation can bring legally owned firearms from other jurisdictions into the District in order to register them, the attorney said he had told Heller not to do so without written assurance that it was permissible.

After Assistant Police Chief Peter J. Newsham promised Heller in front of a dozen reporters and news cameras that he would "absolutely not" get in trouble for bringing a revolver into the city, von Breichenruchardt said his client would do so another day. Neither Heller nor his attorney seemed upset by the delay.

"I think what's happened here this morning is a misunderstanding of the law, and that's perfectly understandable," von Breichenruchardt said. "We've got this new law in flux. We've got the old law. It's very difficult to figure out how to even legally bring the handgun into the city so you can apply for the registry."

Newsham amiably agreed. "Firearms registration is a pretty complicated set of rules and regulations, and they can be interpreted by reasonable people in different ways," he said. "I'm sure [Heller is] making his own reasonable interpretation. Our understanding of the rule is that Mr. Heller can legally bring his weapon here." When he does, Newsham added, "we will do the best we can to accommodate him and get him a registration."

But Heller and his lawyer angrily criticized the city over other aspects of the handgun ownership and registration process, outlined in emergency legislation that was approved this week by the D.C. Council and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D).

The new law includes strict storage requirements that opponents of the handgun ban say violate the Supreme Court ruling. Gun owners must keep their pistols at home, unloaded and either disassembled or equipped with trigger locks. Weapons can only be loaded and used if the owner reasonably believes he or she is in imminent danger from an attacker in the home.

The city also has continued to ban most clip-loaded, semi-automatic handguns -- popular with gun enthusiasts -- by including those weapons in its broadly written ban on machine guns, which was not at issue in the Supreme Court ruling. For Heller, Newsham said, that means his Colt .45 cannot be registered.

"It appears that the city does not yet understand the decision and order of the Supreme Court," said Heller, a 66-year-old a security guard.

Von Breichenruchardt accused D.C. officials of "trying to find as many ways as they can to make the process as difficult and unattractive as they can," and predicted that the machine-gun ban will lead to more litigation. "Mayor Fenty promised us he would follow the letter and spirit of the law. He has done neither."

The emergency legislation was crafted after a June 26 Supreme Court ruling that overturned the District's 32-year-old handgun ban. The decision said the Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to own a gun for self-defense.

However, because under federal law buyers can purchase handguns only in the states or districts where they live, District residents cannot legally purchase firearms until a licensed firearms dealer sets up shop in the city. D.C. officials said one prospective dealer is in the process of getting a license in the city, and eventually others probably will do the same.

Officials said they expect that most of the gun owners who show up to register weapons in the weeks ahead will be people who illegally kept revolvers in their homes while the ban was in effect and want to take advantage of a six-month amnesty period that begins today.

Others, such as Heller, may have legally purchased revolvers in other states, including Maryland and Virginia, and then left the guns in the care of friends or relatives in those states when they moved to the District. As Newsham told Heller this morning, those guns can legally be transported into the District provided they are taken directly to D.C. police headquarters for registration.

Von Breichenruchardt stressed that his client did not need amnesty. "The amnesty does not apply to Mr. Heller," he said. "He is not asking for amnesty, and I do not want him in a position . . . to ask for amnesty. He has never broken the law."

Eventually it will be possible for D.C. residents to buy pistols in other states by having the dealers in those states ship the guns to dealers in the District for delivery to the buyer.

To begin the registration process, the applicant must bring his or her revolver, unloaded and in a container, to the firearms registration office at police headquarters, 300 Indiana Ave. NW. The applicant must also bring two passport-sized photos, proof of D.C. residency, and a valid D.C. driver's license or a letter from a physician attesting that the applicant's vision is at least as good as that required for the license.

An applicant must fill out registration forms, submit fingerprints and pass a written firearm-proficiency test, while police ballistics experts test-fire the revolver. The revolver will then be returned to the owner, but he or she cannot legally use the weapon, even for self-defense, until notified that the registration has been approved.

Before approving a registration, police will conduct a background check of the applicant. There are several disqualifying factors, including a felony conviction or a history of mental illness. Ballistics examiners will compare the test-fired bullets to bullets from unsolved shootings to determine if a revolver was used in a crime.

It is unclear how long it normally will take for police to approve a registration application.

Newsham said if anyone shows up to register a semi-automatic pistol that fits the city's definition of a machine gun, police will confiscate the illegal gun but will not immediately arrest the owner. He said police reserve the right to investigate and eventually charge such an owner with violating the machine-gun ban.

Von Breichenruchardt called the semi-automatic handgun ban "foolishness" and said it almost certainly will be challenged in court. "The Supreme Court has given its ruling," he said. "Mr. Fenty and the city council are not above the constitution of the United States. They have to follow the law, the same as all of us."

As the morning wore on, more people arrived at police headquarters -- cops, lawyers, citizens busy conducting their daily business.

A few people went through the entrance marked "gun registry applicants" to pick up written information on how to legally own a gun in the city. But by 9:30, no one had no one brought an actual weapon, or -- except for Heller -- asked to register one.

This got me thinking about the founding fathers and their "intent" of the 2nd amendment. I think it's a pretty easy answer. They passed and adopted the 2nd amendment. PERIOD. They didn't then decide to write laws on limiting ownership, or registration or any of that stuff. In fact, the government didn't do much of anything regarding gun laws until about 150 years later. I think their original intent was pretty clear.

What a load of Grade A BS. '

What's the point of registering the weapon again? (Being serious)

Ugh, I thought that was obvious.... So they know who you are, and what you have, when they decide they want to take it away from you at a later date.

Thought so. Ain't "freedom" grand?

Heller should sue'm again.

:confused: I've used my FLA driver's license to purchase guns elsewhere...

A few states will let you buy long guns in other states and walk out of the store with them. I buy hand and long guns online all the time, but have to have them shipped to an FFL in my state. Pretty sure I can buy handguns in UT, NV and NM with my AZ license. But that's just a reciprocity thing between certain states. Rest assured, DC ain't gonna make anything easy wrt guns.

"It is unclear how long it normally will take for police to approve a registration application."


Sorry, Mr. Heller.... we're a bit underfunded at the minute from defending a costly legal action. Maybe we will have funding in next years budget that will allow us to get around to your registration. Then again, maybe not.

Ba$tards!

Gee, what part of "shall not be infringed" did these folks miss?

Too bad for you Jim. Pretty sure the first guy who gets set up to do FFL tranfers in DC will make a good living. The guy I used in VA charged $27 per and did a healthy business at his dinner table a few nights a week. In DC there will be next to no competition, so you could easily charge $40-$50 per. Problem is that BATF defers to local zoning boards before issuing an FFL to folks with no commercial storefront. And I'll make the wild guess that DC doesn't want FFL's running things out of their houses. It's even getting tough in NoVA, so you know it'll be impossible in DC.

Is it legal under Heller to simply shoot these f*ckers?

+1

Oh hell no, you'd have to stab 'em for it to be legal :)

That's standard rate in MD, unfortunately.

MD gov't likes your money. :p

gun must be kept disassembled/locked in the home

This doesn't make sense, unless you're one of the uber-leet guys who can disassemble/assemble a gun in 30s

FFL fees don't go to the gubmint, though I suppose the FFL's have to declare it as income. Ok, so $100 would probably be a realistic price in DC.

ah, sir... would you mind having a seat in the kitchen until I re-assemble and load my gun so I can cap your intruding burglar ass? just have a seat, I'll be with you in a sec. there's beer in the fridge. no, no, it's all right. I'll be right down, thaaanks

I think it's even outrageous to require trigger locks. When I was at the Phoenix gun buy-back a few weeks ago, we swarmed this lady who was about hand in an old CZ police gun. She had it in a case with a lock on it. It took us a few minutes of fiddling with it to get it open. And then there's the video footage of MD's IDIOT ex-governor, Parris Glendenning, at a press conference about trigger locks, in which he takes several minutes to get the thing unlocked. No thanks. My house handguns are all grab and fire. Only my bedside shotgun takes racking the pump back and that sound alone should discourage any intruder not completely drugged out of his mind.

It just amazes me how politicians can follow the rules they want to, and not the ones they don't want to.

Heck, I've even heard of various government departments changing their behavior ahead of a court ruling or new law...

More:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/07/dc-refuses-to-r.html?csp=34

My thoughts:

The disassembly/trigger lock requirement is explicitly contra to the Supreme Court's decision. Pretty much assures DC another adverse ruling.

The semi-auto ban is probably contra because is a very common, popular type of self-defense weapon, but need another court decision to determine.

The bureaucratic requirements like photos, fingerprinting, etc, and the background check requirements like ballistics test, criminal record, mental health check, I would think they pass legal muster.

DC can probably get away with some delay in issuing registrations, even a couple months might pass muster.

It should be clear to everyone that DC (and Chicago...and New York...and California) have no intention whatsover of complying with this ruling.

I assume Chicago is taking notes for implimenting their program.
Jim

Truest words I've read today.

Why do you include CA? AFAIK California has no gun ban that would be contra to Heller, nor does any California local govt.

San Francisco has a gun ban.

Don't worry free speech, assembly and press are next.

This board and all other objectionable INTERNET content will be banned.

The context in which they have reinvented themselves over the last 230 years have been determined not to be inalienable rights..

Big B.

According to my NRA gun safety course, my father and grandfather, and every other reasonable gun owner I have talked to, you are an idiot if you keep loaded guns in the house, particularly with live ammunition in the chamber. FWIW.

On the other hand, anybody who thinks the gubmit is poised to sweep through your neighborhood tonight and confiscate everyone's guns, will probably also be keeping their guns in a loaded condition with the safety's off. The "idiot" term probably applies here also.

Do you guys hear black helicopters too?

Maybe Rick may lives in a bad neighborhood and has no children around??

Besides that, you can commit no crime and someone can call 911 from your stoop and they will come a running. I would hate to get in trouble for nothing more than an assembled gun as the SWAT team kicks in the door.

Stupid rules that are contrary to private citizens exercising their constitutional rights.

San Francisco's general gun ban was struck down by the CA Supreme Court.

The only "gun ban" in SF is a prohibition against handguns in San Francisco's public housing. I am not convinced that the latter violates Heller.

I guess I'm an idiot. So was my dad, and my grandfather. All of my uncles, too. So is every NRA instructor I know. I grew up in a house with loaded guns everywhere. So have both of my boys, so did all of my cousins, so did my dad, my grandfather, and on and on. Never an accident.

Why? We were around them all of the time and were taught to respect them. Even the empty ones were considered "loaded" at all times and treated accordingly. Any lack of respect for firearms was very quickly corrected indeed. Rather than trying to hide these items from curious children, the men in my family simply exposed those children to firearms at a very early age. Both of my sons were gun owners on their sixth Christmas. Both had killed game animals by their 12th.

I guess by the same logic, young men should not be allowed around young women. An accidental discharge is far more likely in that mix than with kids and guns. Maybe we should never expose our children to "dangerous" situations where they must learn some self control and responsibility. Maybe those of us that expect that from our children are "idiots".

SCOTUS ruled that it was illegal to ban whole classes of firearms.

And people in housing units STILL have a right to armed self defense, so yeah, that SF ban is toast IMO.

Really? Well, you always thought I was an idiot anyway, so no loss there. I don't recall reading in the Armed Citizen column of the American Rifleman any story about someone hearing a disturbance in their house, then going to the gun safe, getting out a gun, loading it, while the intruder waits, and then confronting them. I have no kids and my wife knows what she's doing too. My master bedroom is in a corner of the house with one way in and one way out. My gun safe is in another room. Why would I bet my wife's and my lives on the chance that I can get to a gun and load it before an intruder can block my exit from the MB? I've not ever heard of a gun loading itself and shooting someone. If I ever do, I'll rethink my home defense plan. As for keeping an unloaded gun in the night table and a loaded mag. or speedloader nearby, that's just adding 5-10 seconds to being to defend one's self in an emergency.

Supe, I'm glad I had a different father and grandfather :). Jeff is spot on (as usual) regarding this, and I assure you we are not idiots when it comes to firearms and firearm safety.

ps: Didn't mean to infer that Rick is (by ommission) :)...I just hadn't read down that far yet.

I'm a little surprised by Jeff's practices, but okay. FWIW, the rest of Jeff's heritage is exactly the same as mine. Guns all over the place. Respect. Heck, if I had pointed a toy gun at someone with my grampa nearby, I'd wake up on the other side of the room with a sore cheek.

He was also an aviator. Bush pilot. He was an extremely disciplined and careful man. We didn't cruise around in pickup trucks with loaded guns looking for game. We loaded our guns when we parked the truck. While I agree that a deep respect for firearms is imperative, I personally do not rely on that as the sole source of safety for my family. Families have visitors, for example. Guns can be knocked off tables.

A funny story: My drivers' ed teacher said that guns should always be treated as though they are loaded. He also said guns should be stored in the home in an unloaded state, and physically separated from the ammunition stockpile. Then he asked the class "I tell my guests that the guns in my home are all loaded. Are they?" We said no. He said "Yes, they are."

I don't keep loaded guns everywhere, and I don't have kids around, but I do keep at least one loaded (.45 ACP) but not one in the chamber, and it's not easily found nor accessible, so I find that prudent in my circumstances. Most of mine are seperated from the ammo, and I probably wouldn't be as comfortable keeping a loaded revolver, but an "accident" simply isn't going to happen with the .45...it'd be an "on purpose" :). I'm a nut when it comes to firearm safety...haven't picked one up without checking the chamber in 40 years, but imo some of the "rules" are for casual owners to adhere to, and they probably should.

My Dad was a cop, and always kept a loaded weapon in the house. At age 15 i had a Mini-14 "Assault rifle" under my bed, with a loaded 20rd magazine. No bigge since i'd been shooting since age 6.

When my old man was out all night protecting everyone else, that Ruger was under my bed protecting me. And i never mis-used it any way.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with home defense. There's no point in keeping a hunting rifle loaded/chambered while driving. You couldn't possibly use it while driving and, AFAIK, hunting rifles or shotguns don't have firing pin blocks in them as modern handguns do. You could chamber and cock (to single action) any of my semi-auto handguns, drop them off the roof of your house onto the driveway and none of them would fire. Even if the hammer dropped, the firing pin has a block that can only be released if the trigger is depressed. The stuff you see on tv is less realistic than cartoon animals talking. Other than the cable installer, I can't remember the last stranger I had even come into my house. All others were adult friends and most of them are gun people anyway. No one is gonna accidentally go into my bedroom, root around my night table and test fire my gun. Ditto for playing with my shotgun. I'm far more worried that a neighborhood kid might jump on my bike in the driveway and have it fall on him.