The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action reports that D.C. has passed “emergency” law and new police regulations intended to retain as much of the ban and storage requirement as possible.
Though the Supreme Court ruled that D.C. could not ban handguns, the new rules would still ban all or most semi-automatic pistols. And in spite of the fact that the court ruled that D.C. cannot ban the use of guns for protection in the home, the District still prohibits having a gun loaded and ready unless an attack within your home is imminent or underway.
Dick Heller, the man who brought the lawsuit against the District, was among the first in line this week to apply for a handgun permit. But when he tried to register his semi-automatic pistol, he was rejected. Heller’s gun has a seven round magazine. D.C.’s law defines any semi-automatic as a “machine gun” if it is “capable of” firing more than 12 shots without reloading. D.C. police interpret this as banning any “bottom-loading” semi-automatic handgun, regardless of its actual capacity.
To remedy the District’s flouting of the Supreme Court’s mandates, Representative Mark Souder (R-Ind.) recently introduced H. Res. 1331, a rule to govern House consideration of a modified version of H.R. 1399–the “District of Columbia Personal Protection Act.”
It would provide for speedy consideration of legislation to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller by repealing the provisions of the D.C. Code that were at issue in that case, and by preventing the District from enacting the very restrictions they are now trying to implement.
Elsewhere: Aldermen in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, unanimously voted to amend the city’s 27-year-old handgun ban at a recent closed-door meeting.
And: The Village of Morton Grove, Illinois, amended its Village Code to remove the current handgun ban.
