Mayor: Three Weeks Until Handguns Can Be Registered
(Photo By David Nakamura)
At a midday news conference, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said the Metropolitan Police Department will take 21 days to develop the requirements for registering a handgun in the city. During that period -- which is roughly the time expected for the Supreme Court's ruling to be implemented after more legal machinations in a lower court-- the handgun ban will continue to apply, officials said.
"As mayor, althought I am disappointed in the court's ruling and believe that more handguns in the District of Columbia will only lead to more handgun violence, it's important to respect the court's authority and to act quickly," Fenty said.
Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier and interim Attorney General Peter Nickles stressed that the city believes the high court's ruling does not open the way for people to carry handguns outside their homes.
"You cannot go out today and carry it around," Nickles said. "This is not open season for handguns. We're going to strictly regulate them."
The mayor's office and D.C. Council pledged to work together to develop new regulations governing trigger locks, after the high court also said the city's current trigger lock provisions are too broad.
"We're going to craft comprehensive legislation," council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said. "We're going to have the strictest handgun laws the Constitution allows."
Nickles acknowleged that it is likely that gun stores will set up inside the city and he said officials are not yet certain how the rules will apply for folks who buy the guns and need to transport them home--in other words, how will they carry it in their cars or on their person as they commute.
During the 21 day-period until the registration rules are issued, Lanier said, officers who find guns in people's homes will "use their discretion" about whether to arrest the owners.
By David A Nakamura |
June 26, 2008; 1:33 PM ET
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Posted by: D Webb | June 26, 2008 2:21 PM
Some back ground; I lived in the city and owned and bought firearms in the city before this law was passed, and I still have a handgun registered under this law in the city that I bought before the law changed, so I know how the old law worked and I lobbied the council members who were for the change in the law at the time not to change it but to no avail. We have all seen the disastrous result of this law change but the politicians in this city will not learn. The city government is still in la-la land, if the think they will be able to restrict the sale of firearms in DC or their ownership by law abiding citizens. Any attempt to do so will be watched like hawks and no doubt now that the court has recognized an individual right to keep and bare arms, any violation of that right by the city will be met with numerous civil and constitutional rights law suites, which will drain the cities coffers. The smart money would have seen the hand writing on the wall, and came to an amicable solution after the loss in the court of appeals, but never under estimate the power of the politicians in Washington DC to make bad and arrogant decisions and take knowingly bad legal advice, but hay this worked out great for supporters of the constitution and the Supreme Court has spoken.
Posted by: Resident in exile | June 26, 2008 2:46 PM
"During the 21 day-period until the registration rules are issued, Lanier said, officers who find guns in people's homes will "use their discretion" about whether to arrest the owners."
What part about "D.C. gun ban overturned" was unclear?
Posted by: Franconia | June 26, 2008 3:47 PM
Yea Franconia, they are full of pattotie.
Posted by: John Smallberries Esq., Republican Candidate, AT LARGE | June 26, 2008 5:21 PM
Yea Franconia, they are full of it.
Posted by: John Smallberries Esq., Republican Candidate, AT LARGE | June 26, 2008 5:22 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Not sure where the so called officials in DC are getting their information, but the criminals don't register their guns. They don't get them from peoples homes they break into. They get them from other states with not so strict gun laws and bring them back. I've been in nine different metropolitan cities that have a crime rate equal or exceeding that of DC, and once they realized their "Strict" gun laws were only helping criminals take from and kill law abiding citizens, they amended them to allow law abiding citizens the right to carry to protect themselves. In those cities, crime decreased on the law abiding citizens, but stayed in the criminal community. Let the people have the choice as to what the cities legislation should be. It's their lives on the line. Put it to a special vote. There is time until the law is put on the books.