I hope they vote this Mayor and his idiots out yesterday!
July 14, 2008
New Proposed D.C. Handgun Rules Unveiled
Mayor Adrian Fenty and the D.C. Council, along with Attorney General Peter Nickles and Police Chief Cathy Lanier, announced the details of early legislation that will regulate the registration and storage of handguns in post-Heller D.C.
“We continue to take every step we can to minimize handgun violence in the District,” said Mayor Fenty. “We must prevent handguns from falling into the wrong hands or being misused, while allowing District residents to exercise their Second Amendment rights under the Heller ruling.”
Public Safety Committee Chairman Phil Mendelson released a statement saying that these proposed rules are just a first step.
“Moving forward, the Council’s open and public deliberations on this important issue will give the residents of the District of Columbia as well as subject matter experts an opportunity to weigh in and help shape our new policies," Mendelson said.
Here's what they're proposing:
* Allowing an exception for handgun ownership for self-defense use inside the home.
* If you want to keep a handgun in your home, the MPD will have to perform ballistic testing on it before it can be legally registered.
* There will be a limit to one handgun per person for the first 90 days after the legislation becomes law.
* Firearms in the home must be stored unloaded and disassembled, and secured with either a trigger lock, gun safe, or similar device. The new law will allow an exception for a firearm while it is being used against an intruder in the home.
* Residents who legally register handguns in the District will not be required to have licenses to carry them inside their own homes.
More from the press release on Chief Lanier's proposed rules for how D.C. residents must go about registering handguns below the jump.
Registration procedures for a handgun purchased for self-defense in a District residence: 1. A District resident who seeks to register a handgun must obtain an application form from MPD’s Firearms Registration Section and take it to a firearms dealer for assistance in completing it.
2. The applicant must submit photos, proof of residency and proof of good vision (such as a driver’s license or doctor’s letter), and pass a written firearms test.
3. If the applicant is successful on the test, s(he) must pay registration fees and submit to fingerprinting. MPD will file one set of fingerprints and submit the other to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for analysis and criminal background check.
4. MPD will notify the applicant whether all registration requirements are satisfied. At that point, the applicant returns to the Firearms Registration Section to complete the process and receive MPD’s seal on the application.
5. The applicant takes his or her completed application to a licensed firearm dealer to take delivery of the pistol. If the dealer is outside the District, the dealer transports the pistol to a licensed dealer in the District to complete the transaction.
6. The applicant takes the pistol to the Firearms Registration Section for ballistics testing. When testing is complete, the applicant may retrieve the pistol and take it home.
Registration procedures for a handgun legally registered in another jurisdiction, or a handgun possessed in the District but not registered:
1. Applicants bringing a firearm from another jurisdiction into the District must transport it immediately to the Firearms Registration Section, or notify the Section that they will do so within 48 hours.
2. MPD will allow the registration of previously possessed handguns other than those that qualify as “machine guns” under District law (that is, all automatics and most semiautomatic pistols) for the next six months. During that period, the Office of the Attorney General has established an Amnesty policy not to prosecute anyone for unregistered possession of such a handgun when it is brought to MPD for registration, although those who have committed other crimes with firearms of course remain subject to prosecution.
3. Regulations for registering handguns in either of these two scenarios are similar to those for newly-purchased handguns, but do not require the assistance of a licensed firearms dealer.
Rules for transporting firearms legally within the District:
1. When the law allows transporting a firearm legally, the owner must transport it unloaded and securely wrapped in a package, with the package visible in plain view.
Provisions for becoming a licensed firearms dealer in the District:
1. Firearms dealers must first be licensed by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
2. Potential firearms dealers must be eligible to register guns in the District and eligible under federal law to sell them.
3. Firearms dealer licenses will be valid for one year.
4. Applications for dealer licenses will include a sworn or affirmed statement by the applicant, and may require photographs and fingerprints.
5. Firearms dealers must also comply with other District licensing and zoning requirements, such as having a Basic Business License and certificate of occupancy.
July 14, 2008
New Proposed D.C. Handgun Rules Unveiled
Mayor Adrian Fenty and the D.C. Council, along with Attorney General Peter Nickles and Police Chief Cathy Lanier, announced the details of early legislation that will regulate the registration and storage of handguns in post-Heller D.C.
“We continue to take every step we can to minimize handgun violence in the District,” said Mayor Fenty. “We must prevent handguns from falling into the wrong hands or being misused, while allowing District residents to exercise their Second Amendment rights under the Heller ruling.”
Public Safety Committee Chairman Phil Mendelson released a statement saying that these proposed rules are just a first step.
“Moving forward, the Council’s open and public deliberations on this important issue will give the residents of the District of Columbia as well as subject matter experts an opportunity to weigh in and help shape our new policies," Mendelson said.
Here's what they're proposing:
* Allowing an exception for handgun ownership for self-defense use inside the home.
* If you want to keep a handgun in your home, the MPD will have to perform ballistic testing on it before it can be legally registered.
* There will be a limit to one handgun per person for the first 90 days after the legislation becomes law.
* Firearms in the home must be stored unloaded and disassembled, and secured with either a trigger lock, gun safe, or similar device. The new law will allow an exception for a firearm while it is being used against an intruder in the home.
* Residents who legally register handguns in the District will not be required to have licenses to carry them inside their own homes.
More from the press release on Chief Lanier's proposed rules for how D.C. residents must go about registering handguns below the jump.
Registration procedures for a handgun purchased for self-defense in a District residence: 1. A District resident who seeks to register a handgun must obtain an application form from MPD’s Firearms Registration Section and take it to a firearms dealer for assistance in completing it.
2. The applicant must submit photos, proof of residency and proof of good vision (such as a driver’s license or doctor’s letter), and pass a written firearms test.
3. If the applicant is successful on the test, s(he) must pay registration fees and submit to fingerprinting. MPD will file one set of fingerprints and submit the other to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for analysis and criminal background check.
4. MPD will notify the applicant whether all registration requirements are satisfied. At that point, the applicant returns to the Firearms Registration Section to complete the process and receive MPD’s seal on the application.
5. The applicant takes his or her completed application to a licensed firearm dealer to take delivery of the pistol. If the dealer is outside the District, the dealer transports the pistol to a licensed dealer in the District to complete the transaction.
6. The applicant takes the pistol to the Firearms Registration Section for ballistics testing. When testing is complete, the applicant may retrieve the pistol and take it home.
Registration procedures for a handgun legally registered in another jurisdiction, or a handgun possessed in the District but not registered:
1. Applicants bringing a firearm from another jurisdiction into the District must transport it immediately to the Firearms Registration Section, or notify the Section that they will do so within 48 hours.
2. MPD will allow the registration of previously possessed handguns other than those that qualify as “machine guns” under District law (that is, all automatics and most semiautomatic pistols) for the next six months. During that period, the Office of the Attorney General has established an Amnesty policy not to prosecute anyone for unregistered possession of such a handgun when it is brought to MPD for registration, although those who have committed other crimes with firearms of course remain subject to prosecution.
3. Regulations for registering handguns in either of these two scenarios are similar to those for newly-purchased handguns, but do not require the assistance of a licensed firearms dealer.
Rules for transporting firearms legally within the District:
1. When the law allows transporting a firearm legally, the owner must transport it unloaded and securely wrapped in a package, with the package visible in plain view.
Provisions for becoming a licensed firearms dealer in the District:
1. Firearms dealers must first be licensed by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
2. Potential firearms dealers must be eligible to register guns in the District and eligible under federal law to sell them.
3. Firearms dealer licenses will be valid for one year.
4. Applications for dealer licenses will include a sworn or affirmed statement by the applicant, and may require photographs and fingerprints.
5. Firearms dealers must also comply with other District licensing and zoning requirements, such as having a Basic Business License and certificate of occupancy.