Go Home Already: Shouts and Murmurs
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Compromise Uncertain on Same-Sex Marriage Law
Morning Roundup: Second Helpings Edition
Fire at 17th and L NW Forces Evacuations
Great report from Dave Weigel over at Reason's Hit and Run blog on original D.C. handgun ban plaintiff Dick Heller's return to the District's gun registration office this morning. What happened yesterday was Heller showed up to register his 1911 single-action Colt .22 revolver, but he didn't bring it with him, and the police told him to come back with the gun.
Weigel reports that Heller met with "partial success" today. Police took his finger prints and tested the gun's ballistics, an he took a 20-question exam. Heller still has to come back in a week with two passport photos, and wait for the city to process his background check. There's also apparently some question about whether his older gun qualifies as a "machine gun," since it apparently holds more than 12 rounds.
In the video above, Weigel gets some circular answers from Heller on his reported bid to challenge D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton as a libertarian candidate. But our favorite part of the story is this quote from Heller:
On why he registered the colt: "I bought it because it was the gun they used in Gunsmoke," Heller said. "That used to be our culture."Definitely curious which "culture" Heller is referring to here. The culture of watching incredibly popular television shows? The culture of U.S. Marshals trying to keep order in 1870s Kansas?
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Oh, a revolver machinegun! Now, that's something I want! Where do you get em?
Also, wasn't he technically in violation of the law by carrying a concealed weapon? And a machinegun revolver at that! See this is exactly what the new SCOTUS-compliant DC gun laws are supposed to protect us from: teevee obsessed geezers trying to register their .22s.
So wait a minute, Dick Heller is a D.C. resident and has a cache of unregistered guns at his residence? Why aren't the police over there raiding his ass?
HCE: He claimed to keep them at a friend's house in Maryland.
Plus, people registering previously-illegal guns are given amnesty for a certain period of time under the new law to make them lawful. I believe it was something like 18 months (I'm too lazy to look it up right now.)
"A friend's house in Maryland" is the new "next to the attic crawlspace."
So did this dude have a Webley Automatic Revolver or what? Because that's some steampunk s**t right there, yo. I bet he can't wait to get all League of Extraordinary Gentlemen on some burglar's narrow ass.
"I bought it because it was the gimp they used in Pulp Fiction," Heller said. "That used to be our culture."
If this guy gets more than 50 votes frankly I'd be surprised.
So if I want to register my horse-drawn Gatling Gun, does it qualify as a "machine gun revolver" or an antique and, therefor, exempt from registration?
And before you ask, it's at a "friend's house in Maryland." Wink-wink, nudge-nudge, say no more.
There is no question about whether this is a machine gun. It is not. It is a revolver and is not capable of firing more than 12 times without manual reloading.
But there is a question as to why he even bothered, seeing as how one can inflict more harm with a few walnuts, a lactose intolerant panda and a pint of milk, than you can with a .22.
Ah-ah, I know what you're thinking Heller. You're thinking does my gun hold twelve shots or only 6. And to tell you the truth I've forgotten myself in all this litigation. But seeing you can now get a .44 Magnum in DC- the most powerful hand gun in the world and will blow a head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question--Do you feel wimpy with that .22? Well, do ya, Heller?
It sounds as if .. according to Fenty inc. All guns are machines; Therefore All guns are machine guns. Just like all political offices happen to be machines, they just don't want to tell us that.
G Lover: I think they meant there was some question about whether his other gun, which is a semiautomatic, would qualify as a machine gun under District law.
(As an earlier Post article put it: "Heller owns at least two handguns -- a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and a .22-caliber revolver".)
Oh, poo--well, THAT makes a lot more sense. Thanks, C Minus
Quick, punch that guy in the dick before he gets his gun registered!
You are confused. Mr. Weller mentioned ownership of a 22 cal. revolver (legal to register) and a model 1911 45 cal semiautomatic (the quintessential semiautomatic, not legal to register in DC).
The rationale for the regulation: semiautomatic firearms can be fitted with cheap extended-capacity magazines that hold as many as 33 rounds, well over the 12 round DC limit. While it is true that most extended magazines for 1911 hold 10 rounds, 15-round models for as little as $5.
The verbal notification of the law Mr. Heller (and his attorney) received at MPD HQ probably gives him standing to challenge the "revolver-only" regulation in court.
In my personal view, if you you have a firearm in your home for self-defense and cannot hit what you aim at five or six times (the capacity of a revolver), your family and neighbors should not be further endangered by your bad marksmanship.
I'm with Mike. If you need a 40-round mag to hit your target, you either need to move to Front Royal or get Lasik.
for a third party that can't punch its way out of a wet paper sack, the libertarians sure to get a lot of ink, dontcha think?