Officials upset by court decision

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By David C. Lipscomb

D.C. officials and lawmakers Thursday expressed dismay at the Supreme Court ruling that struck down the District's 32-year-old ban on handguns and said they will spend the next three weeks drafting guidelines to strictly regulate the weapons.

"As mayor, although I'm disappointed in the court's ruling ... it is important to both respect the court's authority and then to act quickly," Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, a Democrat, said on the steps of the city's John A. Wilson Building.

City officials and lawmakers uniformly said they would implement strict regulations to govern the sale and registration of handguns but were not certain about what kinds of guidelines would be put in place.

D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, a Democrat, said the council did not attempt to draft any legislation regarding handguns until the court's decision because of the complex nature of the case.

"There were too many permutations associated with this, too many likely outcomes," Mr. Gray said. "There certainly were some basic scenarios that we looked at, but we'll know [by July 15] before we recess what needs to be done immediately."

Mr. Gray said that he may convene an emergency council session during its summer recess to discuss new guidelines.

Mr. Fenty gave the Metropolitan Police Department 21 days to create regulations that will allow residents to register handguns to be kept in the home for personal protection.

The District's ban was overturned by a 5-4 ruling that said prohibiting handguns for self-defense in the home in the District was unconstitutional.

Interim D.C. Attorney General Peter J. Nickles said he expects the new registration requirements and procedures to be significantly different from those in place before the gun ban.

He said changes will be necessary in part because the city will develop an amnesty program for residents who previously owned handguns and were not allowed to register them.