DC’s insane gun laws

The Supreme Court may have slapped down the DC government’s most draconian firearms regulations, but that locality still does whatever it can to circumvent the letter and spirit of the law and the judgment of the Federal judiciary. Various statements by the mayor and city council members show that that is their intention. They are quite proud of placing their ideology above the constitution and the freedom and safety of DC’s residents.

If you live in DC and want to buy a pistol you need to make your purchase from an out-of-state dealer with a Federal Firearms License. The one FFL-holding dealer within DC does not sell guns, but will act as a transfer point for the firearm, holding it until you pass all of DC’s registration requirements (no, you may not just pick it up in Virginia and bring it in to DC). Somehow the gun must get from the seller to this DC dealer. The out-of-state dealer is prohibited from driving into DC and giving the weapon to the DC dealer. However, he is allowed to ship it to him by, for example, UPS. Let that sink in. The more cautious procedure, where the gun will never be out of the possession of FFL holders, is against DC law. But it’s OK to let it pass through the hands of an undetermined number of UPS sorters and drivers, and bounce around in the back of a UPS truck. Somehow this makes perfect sense to the DC city council.