DCist: Will Gun Shops Open in D.C.?

mindy1234

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:08:36 -0500

If you are looking for the only Federal Firearm license (FFL) "dealer" in DC. Check them out: Josh Sugarmann Violence Policy Center 1730 Rhode Island Ave Nw #1014 Washingtion, DC 20036 Phone: 202 822 8200 email: www.vpc.org

stmove

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:28:24 -0500

I think a lot of us can't wait for the gun store to open, if for nothing else so people can stand outside and see just what paranoid d-bags go in to get some protection for their highly valuable, self-defense-fantasy-addled asses. I think every third person will look like a pastier, slightly smaller Karl Rove. It would be sort of like another take on the whole abortion clinic thing, except the wannabe clint eastwood jerk offs would be walking in with a bunch of sweaty peaceniks outside picketing. Then one day it all goes horribly bad when they wave thier picket sign in the face of the wrong guy... I predict many fun news cycles from this.

G Lover Park

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:15:27 -0500

Heh heh--never thought about the Smithsonian. But what I was figured is we forget the gun shops altogether. What DC needs is a gun manufacturer! Get rid of the middlemen altogether. Direct sales of guns made by DC residents for DC residents avoids all those pesky FFL requirements. Better yet, use prison labor for the manufacturing--who better to build high quality arms for the law abiding folks of DC than the killers who have been using guns against them since 1976?

Mike Licht

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:32:53 -0500

Phooey! There's a way to open gun shops in DC tomorrow.

ontarioroader

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:22:35 -0500

I vote for a little gun stand in the lobby of the Reeve's Center along with the incense and other crap people sell there...

TimmyTucker

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:18:48 -0500

Maybe DC could have a trial store at one of the booths in the Texas section of the Folklife Festival. I'm sure they'd be MORE than willing to lend a hand.

Big L

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:10:59 -0500

Anyone want to go in on opening a gun store and range? We could just print money....

OldPosterKnownAsCranky

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:55:32 -0500

@smittydc: I believe the city will allow for the registration of currently unregistered (and thus illegal) handguns.

The Anti DC

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:53:53 -0500

Am I the only one sensing a tight business opportunity here??? Anyone??? You'd have a monopoly! I would want my gun shop to be combined with an Olive Garden. Come for the guns, stay for the unlimited breadsticks.

smittydc

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:50:35 -0500

and I wonder if they'll allow the registration of guns that were, ummmm, already in DC? They already have the money for guns amnesty. I would think they'd have a similar interest in getting people to register unregister firearms.

Boomhauer

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:40:02 -0500

I'd like to echo RJ...the District should suck it up and open their own shop in DC; otherwise they're in for another long legal fight that they're not likely to win. I'd envision a shop that sold a limited number of handguns that are pre-ballistic tested and pre-registered to cut down on overhead. Or, barring that, DC can take a page from Chris Rock and allow guns but charge $100 a bullet.

mrmoonpie_dc

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:32:07 -0500

what's going to end up happening is that the law will be worked somehow so district residents can legally purchase guns outside of the district and bring them back across "state" lines.That's how it works with "long" guns. You go to MD and buy a shotgun. The dealer holds the gun until you go back to DC and register it. You bring the registration papers back to the dealer, and he releases the gun to you. Takes a month or so--now that's a cooling-off period.

dcist20009

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:42:30 -0500

The best place to put a gun store is inside the police station where you can do the registration and then get your gun.

IMGoph

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:40:43 -0500

i'd love to see some redneck congresscritter from flyover country (hello louie!) try to do a comprehensive rewrite of our zoning laws. the amount of crap that would unearth is immeasurable. i doubt anyone would try. what's going to end up happening is that the law will be worked somehow so district residents can legally purchase guns outside of the district and bring them back across "state" lines. no one is going to want a gun store in their neighborhood, and no gun shop owner is going to want to deal with the hassle of trying to set up shop here.

SomeoneStoleMyScreenNameJason

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:23:35 -0500

I hate America.

OldPosterKnownAsCranky

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:10:28 -0500

My spidey sense is tingling. Which means I have to pee from 3 cups of coffee. But it also means that if DC tries to effectively continue the ban on gun stores via administrative regulations, it's gonna be a long, expensive legal fight that I doubt the city is likely to win. It's also going to invite congressional involvement from someone attaching a rider to some obscure bill that will either require DC to re-write its zoning laws or will do the re-writing on its own. City officials are going to have to decide whether they are going to comply fully with the Supreme Court ruling, or whether they will do only the bare minimum and basically dare people to sue them to do more.

RJ

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:05:53 -0500

If for some reason DC just can’t find a space for a gun store, I can see the courts ordering the District to open their own gun store, and why not. The only way you can get a legal gun is through a District Government run gun shop, with a 500% tax imposed on the sale, which will support community bullet proof vest giveaways and midnight basketball.

GhettoBurbs

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:47:13 -0500

I can think of at least one customer who would be very pleased if a store opened up on Massachusetts Ave. NW.