Ballou HS Rocks the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Suspect in 9-Year-Old's Murder Found Dead in D.C. Jail
Morning Roundup: Black Friday Edition
Go Home Already: Make Room
Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
With all the legislative back and forth over the District's evolving gun regulations since the Supreme Court deemed the city's handgun ban unconstitutional last summer, it's understandable that we'd all be confused as to how one goes about registering a gun. The Metropolitan Police Department has published a guide that attempts to clear up the process.
The 13-page guide details how to transport your gun to a police station for registration (do not stuff it in your belt and saunter in Chuck Norris-style), what to bring with you (a valid D.C. identification card, two passport-size photos, proof of five hours of training), what you should expect (a 20-question multiple choice test on D.C. gun laws, $60 in fees for a handgun and $48 for a rifle or shotgun, fingerprints for the background check) and how long the whole process should take (5 days). That sawed-off shotgun you've been itching to register? The .50-caliber BMG rifle? Those are no-no's, along with machine guns, short-barreled rifles and assault weapons.
The guide also lists all the qualifications for registration. If you're not 21 (or 18 with a letter from the folks) and have pretty much any type of violent or gun-related criminal past, you might consider ninja stars as a self-defense alternative.
Storage regulations are also cited. In essence, D.C. does not require that you keep your gun unloaded and disassembled in a locked place, but it does make it a criminal offense to keep it in your bedside table or someplace similar if you've got anyone under the age of 18 in the house who could "reasonably" get a hold of the gun. The penalties for criminally negligent storage can be steep, so pay particularly close attention to them.
If you're thinking about getting and registering a gun, give the guide a good read. (It's available here in .PDF format.) But for our sake, don't go running to your closest police outpost and try to register that prized anti-aircraft battery you've had in the basement because DCist said you could.
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Shouldn't be any problem for me then, right? Oh, by the way, I call my gun the "Good Samaritan".
The more interesting list is the one that describes the firearms that they won't register. These include a lot of semi-automatic rifles (not full auto, not machineguns). Also, some of these rules don't make sense. You're not allowed to register:
(IV) A semiautomatic, rifle that has the
capacity to accept a detachable magazine
and any one of the following:
(aa) A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously
beneath the action of the
weapon;
(bb) A thumbhole stock;
(cc) A folding or telescoping stock;
(dd) A grenade launcher or flare launcher;
(ee) A flash suppressor; or
(ff) A forward pistol grip;
So if I just take the pistol grip off, that's okay? What is it about the pistol grip makes this particular gun extra special dangerous?
I dunno re: pistol grip. Steadier aim? Faster racking? Who knows. Viewed as some element in line with an assault weapon I suppose. The thumb hole stock requirement is weirder, for sure.
Although I *slightly* disagree with the 10rd limit on a magazine, I am pleased to see that a semi-automatic handgun will be allowed at all.
Since Bullseye competition shooting requires a .22, .45, and allows for a 9mm, I wonder how much hassle it would be to get all three in. (Aside from the re-occurring registration fees.)
I think the second grip is akin to what you'd see on a tommy gun. Along with the thumbhole stock, folding stock, grenade launcher, etc, it looks like a way of discounting a class of weapon that is really designed for combat. That list looks like the kind of thing you see on true assault rifles.
This list is to keep you out of section of the gun store that sells the "they are fully auto, but we made you a special semi-auto (wink-wink) model for home defense"-guns.
The thing I don't get is how I am supposed to walk around feeling safer?
Since it's pretty much against the law to carry a weapon on you...what good is it?
And since you have to keep it under lock and key at home...again, what good is it?
"Dear burglar, in the spirit of fair play, would you please count to 5-Mississippi, thereby giving me enough time to find my locked up shotgun shells, unlock them from their lock box, locate my weapon and unlock it from it's lock box, load my gun and check it for readiness?
Thanks, Mr. Rocks"
Now this is a story that makes my day. Hopefully in the future some punk will make my day.
Virginia Woman Shoots Suspected Burglar
Wednesday, 14 Jan 2009, 10:40 PM EST
Triangle, Va. -- Determined not to be a victim, a Prince William County woman grabbed her gun and fought back against three men suspected of trying to rob her house. It happened in Triangle, Virginia, not far from the Quantico Marine base.
Why would you hope to be the victim of an attempted robbery and also hope to shoot someone?
I just don't get this vigilante fetish that certain gun proponents have.
I understand what you're saying, Politburo. For me, it's basically the sense of having control over being a victim of a robbery, rape, murder, etc. that permeates my being. Criminals in DC have had an advantage over the rest of us in that we didn't have the tools to defend ourselves. Likely crime will go down once they start getting popped off.
My, my, my...where to begin.
Basically, the message from the city council is STILL "F*** the SCOTUS, Boo Boo!"
First, far from enabling DC residents to exercise their 2A rights, it actually makes the rules stricter for SHOTGUN AND RIFLE registrants. From what I read in the rules, DC is the ONLY place in the country that requires 5 hours of training to own a shotgun or rifle. What good is hitting a paper target with a 22 pistol going to do me when I want to buy a 12G pump?
They seem to provide for a waiver on the training, but here is the rub, there is no pre-qualifying for registration. This means I have to buy a gun, then go to MPD to get the rubber glove treatment, then present my past hunting licenses and gun club memberships as proof of my experience. If they don't take it, I then have to find a course from their approved instructors ($150) and find the time to take the course. Pre-qualification would be better as the cost of having to take a course would influence my decision to purchase (but then again, that is the idea).
Transport rules are also equally silly. It used to be, unloaded wrapped and visable. Now it is unloaded, wrapped, invisible. If your car does not have a trunk, then it is unloaded and in a locked box.
This means that I need to get new gun cases to walk my shotty to my car parked on the street. Also, it adds to the cost of a gun. Pistol owners will also need to buy a locked box when they buy the gun.
The ballistics test is a huge waste of $ that is just there to make the process more complicated.
I did not see anything about renewals or grandfathering in existing gun owners. Don't know why they left that out. I thought it was part of the legislation.
These things will be challenged in court, of course, and DC will lose, of course. It is just disgusting how the council has such little faith in their constituency and ZERO understanding of firearms. AND how they claim to want statehood but feel that the Bill of Rights should not apply to the District.
I think every Councilman should be required to take a gun safety course, then they may actually know what they are talking about.
I am a liberal Dem who voted for a lot of these clowns in the past, but no more.
Can they even do a ballistic fingerprint on a shotgun? How would that even work?
Ballistics are not required for shotguns and rifles. Only handguns. The thing is, Maryland has had this program for years. Cost about $2million. Number of crimes it has helped solved?--1. New York's system, which costs them 5 times as much? 0. That's right, 0. rumor is they aren't even bothering to actually do the test anymore. They just keep it on the books to complicate the process.
I suppose that means the answer to your question is no, Monkey. I suppose that you could match the shell to the gun, seeing that shotguns and rifles are like handguns to the extent they leave a mark on the charge cap, but I don't see any way of matching the BBs to the barrel of the rifle - they are way too small to accurately capture the barrel grooves.
I think everyone should be armed with swords. For I, as you may know, am not left handed.
Yes, I suppose you could match a shell casing recovered at a crime scene to a particular shotgun, for a perp sloppy enough to leave it behind, but crap like that only happens on Law'n'Order.
Why would you hope to be the victim of an attempted robbery and also hope to shoot someone?
For the same reason people dress and act like sluts then complain when they get offered $20 to tear one off in an alley.
Hey! My comment is gone. No one knows what I said. There a still a few glitches on this new page. The recent comment box keeps going back and forth through time.
My comment was about whether or not I should register my
super-soaker? At first,I thought I was getting banned for using the word super-soaker, but then again, I'm just paranoid. Wha..! Who's that!?
Oh, and all that "assault weapon" nonsense will get knocked down in court. SCOTUS was clear that "unusual or dangerous" weapons can be banned. There are currently more modern style rifle (re: "assult rifle") owners in the US than there are hunters. As for being dangerous, off all firearm homicides in the US, according to the FBI, less than 2% are committed using these weapons.
Busted on both counts.
The thing that gets me about the pistol grip stuff is that wouldn't you WANT people to have guns with features that help them shoot straighter?
you also can't register an "unsafe handgun."
The District wasn't that creative in coming up with the list of disqualifying characteristics. Many of these are taken directly from the (now defunct) 1994 Assault Weapon Ban.
Strange though--I've never seen the thumbhole factor before. And mysteriously absent is the bayonette disqualifying factor from Monkey's list. Guess I'll mount one on Grandpa's Browning A5 and see what they day.
The only other thing I can think of is--boy are they going to be surprised the first time someone comes in with a semi-auto sten gun. Whoops--no pistol grip, but gosh don't it look all assaulty as hell?
They wouldn't register a sem-auto Sten gun because it has "a barrel shroud." And barrel shrouds are, like, really scary looking.
(V) A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity
to accept a detachable magazine and
any one of the following:
(aa) A threaded barrel, capable of accepting
a flash suppressor, forward
handgrip, or silencer;
(bb) A second handgrip;
(cc) A shroud that is attached to, or
partially or completely encircles, the
barrel that allows the bearer to fire
the weapon without burning his or
her hand, except a slide that encloses
the barrel; or
(dd) The capacity to accept a detachable
magazine at some location outside
of the pistol grip;
I thought a barrel shroud was "a shoulder thing that goes up." That's what Carolyn McCarthy (who introduced the AWB legislation) said it was on MSNBC. lol
The only thing wrong with "assault (re: modern) weapons is that they look scary. The council should just pass a law that all guns look like this.
http://www.glamguns.com/hk47.jpg
The thing I don't get is how I am supposed to walk around feeling safer?
Since it's pretty much against the law to carry a weapon on you...what good is it?
And since you have to keep it under lock and key at home...again, what good is it?
"Dear burglar, in the spirit of fair play, would you please count to 5-Mississippi, thereby giving me enough time to find my locked up shotgun shells, unlock them from their lock box, locate my weapon and unlock it from it's lock box, load my gun and check it for readiness?
Thanks, Mr. Rocks"