After four years of trying to hide from the Supreme Court’s Heller decision, Washington realized its gun laws had to change. On Tuesday, the D.C. Council voted unanimously to relax firearm registration requirements. The process to fix the law started just a few weeks after The Washington Times began a series documenting the District’s excessive hurdles to gun ownership.
The proposal will eliminate the five-hour training course requirement, ballistics test, vision test and ammunition restrictions. It also delays for two years the new re-registration and micro-stamping requirements and allows the mayor to act as a gun dealer if there is no other federal firearms licensee in the city.
The bill can still be amended in the minimum two weeks before final passage, but Judiciary Committee Chairman Phil Mendelson does not expect significant changes. Mayor Vincent Gray supports the bill and is expected to sign it.
The liberal council went along with the change only because of pressure from the federal legislative and judicial branches. Councilman Marion Barry, Ward 8 Democrat, told The Washington Times that he voted in favor because “D.C. gun laws are in danger of being tampered with or overturned by Congress.”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF MY COLUMN
Next in the series: D.C.’s Gun Law Deception
“Emily Gets Her Gun” is a series following senior editor Emily Miller as she tries to legally get her hands on a gun in the nation’s capital. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
