HoodaThunk?

Yesterday the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6691, The Second Amendment Enforcement Act, by a vote of 226-152. The Act will compel the government of DC to actually comply with the US Constitution and the Supreme Court decision in the Heller case by repealing DC’s continuing efforts at banning guns. The law specifically repeals the semi-automatic handgun ban (more on that in a moment), the requirement that guns be kept locked or disassembled in the home until an “imminent threat” is upon the homeowner, and the onerous registration requirements. Additionally, it would handle the bottleneck in the process created by the lack of registered dealers in DC by allowing DC residents to purchase guns in Virginia or Maryland and transport them home from those locations.

In an attempt to stall this kind of action by Congress, DC’s Council met Tuesday to modify its current gun laws to allow citizen ownership of semi-automatic handguns and removing the requirement that weapons be kept locked or disassembled. In other words, they finally got around to removing the provisions of their laws that were in direct violation of the Heller decision and which were passed with the full knowledge that they were explicitly in contradiction to that decision. Oooo, good try, folks.

The fact of the matter is that DC’s government has proven untrustworthy with regard to defending the Constitutionally-protected rights of their citizens and last-minute efforts like this – plainly motivated by the impending bill in Congress – do nothing but prove that assertion. The registration process, too, is clearly there for the purpose of obstructing DC citizens’ attempts to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights. Mark Segraves of WTOP News has been navigating this convoluted mess and his latest report sums things up nicely:

While the process isn’t so difficult to navigate, it’s by no means easy or cheap. Throughout the process, there are no options. All applicants MUST make at least thrree trips to police headquarters where parking is to say, in the least hard to find. Yes, it’s near a Metro, but do you want to take your new gun for a ride on Metro?

All applicants must make at least two trips to Anacostia, where the only licensed dealer is located. Parking isn’t an issue, but it’s hardly centrally located. All applicants MUST pay $60 in fees to the city, $125 transfer fee to the dealer as well as the cost of passport photos and a notary.

Applicants should budget an extra $200 on top of the price of the gun.

I should also point out that he checked on Wednesday – the day after the Council had passed their amendment to allow ownership of semi-auto’s – and the DC Police were still telling people they weren’t accepting any registration applications for them. Segraves has now been trying to complete the purchase of his handgun for 2 months and he’s still only halfway through the process. I might add that doing so is one of his reporting assignments and is, therefore, his job. Most DC residents don’t have the luxury of performing these tasks during their work hours, so anything Segraves is doing is going to be harder for the average Joe.

DC’s made a real mess of the situation and they’ve had their try at the brass ring of good governance. It’s time for Congress to provide for DC’s residents since the DC Council’s heart obviously isn’t in it.