Results tagged “guns>”

You know, with all the recent, well-publicized difficulties that professional athletes seem to be having with laws involving driving and guns, perhaps we shouldn't be so surprised that one would eventually combine reckless behavior with both in one fell swoop. Enter Delonte West, a member of the Cleveland LeBrons Cavaliers and a former area high school standout. According to the Post, when West was pulled over on his motorcycle for cutting off a Prince George's County police officer on I-95 Thursday night, he was packing "a Beretta 9mm in his waistband, a Ruger .357 strapped to his leg and a shotgun in a guitar case slung over his back" -- a ridiculous amount of iron to be hauling around. Police also noted that it was "unclear" where West was going, and why exactly he felt the need to engage his inner El Mariachi. West, who was named the Post's All-Met High School Basketball Player of the Year in the 2000-01 season, is from nearby Greenbelt and was released under his own recognizance, possibly (but hopefully not) to go figure out ways to strap more weaponry to his body.

The Post offers some preliminary details on a sad story out of Northeast: at least five people were shot around 5:30 p.m. near Minnesota Avenue and Grant Street NE yesterday, and no one really seems to know why. Reports state that up to seven people could have been wounded in the scrum, which occurred after a community gathering. All the known wounded individuals were 18 or under, including two who were only 14, but none have life-threatening injuries. Police are still investigating what happened, but it appears as if 150 people gathered after a block party when arguments began between them. Guns were drawn at that point; some witnesses told the Post that up to 15 shots were heard in quick succession. Regardless of the details, it's incredibly discouraging to see such a potentially positive event just crumble into such violence.

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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.

One relatively early vote from yesterday's marathon final D.C. Council legislative session of the year was the approval of a number of changes to the District's ever-evolving gun laws. (Quick aside: Must the Council always pull out these last-minute legislate-a-thons? They often make for bad laws, not to mention force local scribes to try to fit far too many votes into far too few words. And now back to our regularly scheduled post.)

Legislation revising the District's gun regulations passed the House today in a 266-152 vote. From the AP:

The bill, sponsored by Mississippi freshman Democrat Travis Childers, repeals the District's semiautomatic handgun ban and overturns D.C. law requiring that firearms kept in the home be locked up and inoperable. It allows D.C. residents to purchase guns from federally licensed dealers in Maryland and Virginia and repeals what critics claimed were burdensome registration requirements.

Hoping to head off an effort by Congress that would gut the District's new gun regulations completely, Mayor Adrian Fenty announced yesterday that he was proposing a number of changes to mollify pro-gun activists unhappy with the current restrictions.

Well that was quick. We just got word that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform apparently has scheduled a markup tomorrow on legislation that would gut the District's current gun regulations. As you can read earlier, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) have tried to preempt Congress, but the committee doesn't seem too impressed. We don't yet have a time for the markup, but the folks at DC Vote have asked that concerned residents pack the hearing room. You can check their website for updates on when the markup will go down.

As we mentioned this morning, today the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is holding a hearing to discuss legislation that would do away with the District's newly-issued regulations on gun ownership. According to the pro-gun crowd, the city's regulations are still restrictive enough to violate the Supreme Court's June decision holding the District's handgun ban to be unconstitutional.

As we mentioned yesterday, gun sales in the District will officially kick off next Tuesday, Sept. 9. But the city's only licensed gun seller so far won't actually be selling guns, he'll just be facilitating transfers from guns purchased in other states. So what about gun shops?

On Wednesday WTOP's Mark Segraves reported that handgun sales will officially start in the District next Tuesday, Sept. 9 — just in time for primary election day! There are still no gun stores inside city limits, so the only guns that have been registered in D.C. so far were either registered under the amnesty program or were being stored out-of-state, since federal law requires that new gun purchases must either originate from or be transferred to a dealer in the state where gun will be registered. Charles Sykes, the only licensed D.C. firearms dealer who so far has announced he will transfer out of state gun sales to the District, told WTOP his office in Anacostia will be open for business on Tuesday. Sykes said he plans to charge a $125 fee per transfer.

The Post caught Dick Heller, original plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court court case that eventually made it legal for D.C. residents to own handguns for personal security, picking up his handgun registration certificate this morning.

We've been following the case of Collin McKenzie-Gude, 18, of Bethesda since his arrest last week on charges of making and exploding pipe bombs and illegally possessing firearms. At first glance, the circumstantial evidence that's been piling up paints a pretty weird picture. Here's what's happened so far:

They say that it's good to never give up, but would someone send Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) a memo telling him that sometimes it's cool to throw in the towel?

Via the WSJ Law Blog, click here to download a PDF from the Smith & Wesson company web site announcing their intention to create a commemorative revolver laser engraved with the words "D.C. vs. Heller" on a scale of justice, tipped toward Heller.

As part of the project, an engraved Smith & Wesson Model 442 revolver will be presented to each of the six plaintiffs - Shelly Parker, Tom Palmer, Gillian St. Lawrence, Tracey Ambeau, George Lyon and Dick Heller - for their key roles in working to protect the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Smith & Wesson will make the commemorative revolver available for consumer purchase in Fall 2008 and will direct a portion of the proceeds to the Second Amendment Foundation to acknowledge the organization's pivotal role in the Heller case and its ongoing efforts to preserve the Second Amendment rights of U.S. citizens.

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.

Mayor Adrian Fenty and the D.C. Council, along with Attorney General Peter Nickles and Police Chief Cathy Lanier, announced the details of early legislation that will regulate the registration and storage of handguns in post-Heller D.C.

D.C. as a city is the victim of a lot of stereotypes — the murder capital, crackhead mayor, bad baseball team. One of those is true, but there are at least a handful of other U.S. cities with worse murder rates than us these days, and the worst thing people have dug up about Adrian Fenty is that he appeared in an ad promoting the District wearing his parents' store's logo on his shirt. Not exactly "bitch set me up." But despite all our progress, sometimes D.C.'s stereotypes can still feel true. Especially if you are a very unlucky guy, or maybe a very slow target.

Despite warnings from both city officials and your trusted bloggers at DCist, it looks like District residents were visiting gun shops over the weekend in Virginia and Maryland to try to take advantage of their freshly interpreted Second Amendment rights. Fortunately, as the Post reports, gun store owners are holding off on taking advantage of the new business -- they're waiting to see what regulations the city eventually chooses to impose on the purchase and ownership of handguns for District residents.

Federal prosecutors announced today that no charges will be filed against the two off-duty D.C. police officers who were involved in the fatal shooting of 14-year-old DeOnté Rawlings on Sept. 17, 2007.

Walter Dellinger has argued before the Supreme Court on many occasions. In fact, according to a Post profile of the lawyer and academic, he's been in front of the nine justices often this year -- three times in the last four weeks. And while yesterday's argument may have been one of the most historic, it probably wasn't the most fun.

A little more than a year separates when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District Circuit first called the District's gun laws unconstitutional, and the final test those laws will face today before the U.S. Supreme Court. And in a matter of hours, the case will have been heard, the audio of the proceedings will be released, and months of conjecture will fill the space until the justices actually issue a final ruling.

With the books finally closed on 2007, we can take an official look at the crime statistics for the year. The Washington Post did so yesterday and found that, as expected, violent crime in the District was up last year as compared to the previous year.

It looks like Virginia's gunnin' for a fight -- pun intended.

Good morning, Washington. If you experienced a power outage at some point on Sunday, you were not alone. Strong winds averaging close to 40 mph knocked out power to as many as 100,000 customers across the metro area yesterday. While not much ice or snow ever materialized during the weekend's storm, Sunday's chilly wind made for an uncomfortable time walking through downtown D.C. for many holiday shoppers -- we spotted at least one woman near Chinatown whose skirt was blown up almost entirely over her head. Slightly less strong winds are expected to continue throughout the day today, so if you wore anything billowy or potentially revealing, we hope you picked out some nice underwear this morning.

Good morning, Washington. It turns out that House Pages don't need lecherous congressmen's help to make scandalous headlines: two have just gotten busted for inappropriate behavior in a House elevator. They've been dismissed, bringing the year's total fired pages to five — two others were caught shoplifting, and one was booted for fighting. Needless to say, it looks like the program — the oversight of which has been in turmoil — will be getting...

Good morning, Washington. Are ya ready for some embezzlement scandal news? Of course you are! This morning's update comes not from the embattled Office of Tax and Revenue, but rather from the D.C. Public Schools front office, as the Examiner reports that Eugene Smith, the former director of internal audits for DCPS, entered a guilty plea yesterday to charges of stealing nearly $50,000 from a charter school account. Smith was fired by the school system...

Good morning, Washington. It's news of the weird day today on DCist, as the Post tells the bizarre story of two 2nd-year engineering students from U-Va. who have been charged with the kidnapping of a man in Tysons Corner and demanding $500,000 in ransom. Both the two kidnappers and the victim are Chinese nationals who had been living with host families in Virginia while attending college. Police arrested Guanyu Lu and Baichuan Shu, both 19,...

Good morning, Washington, and welcome back to what will be a rather short work week for most of us. While airports and train stations are sure to be jammed with holiday travelers this week, the city's roads and metro system should be a little less crowded than normal as folks head out of town early to celebrate Thanksgiving. Less congestion may not make much of a difference in road safety, however, if a new survey...

Good morning, Washington. Not too upset about the coming Metro fare hike, are we? WJLA is reporting that only four people showed up to last night's hearing on the measure. Of course, the meeting was held way out in Reston and was only the first of six opportunities that Metro riders will have to voice their opinion on the price increase. Maybe you're just biding your time. Tax Scandal Grows Even Bigger: This is...