Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
The plaintiffs who successfully sued to overturn the District's long-standing ban on carrying firearms in public asked a federal judge Thursday to bar the city from enforcing its new law to regulate weapons, arguing that it is unconstitutional.
In a motion, the four people and the Second Amendment Foundation asked U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr. to enjoin the D.C. government from enforcing restrictions on carrying guns in public "unless and until such time as the District of Columbia adopts a licensing mechanism consistent with constitutional standards enabling people to exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms."
When the D.C. Council passed the new law unanimously Sept. 23, Alan Gura, attorney for the plaintiffs, called the legislation "something of a joke." He added, "It's not much progress to move from a system where ¬licenses are not available to a system where licenses are only available if the city feels like issuing them."
According to D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), who drafted the bill with mayoral and police officials, the new carry legislation is among the strictest in the nation, requiring applicants to state good reason to carry a weapon, matching laws in Maryland, New Jersey and New York.
Mendelson said he would "be surprised if a year from now it was more than a couple hundred" applicants who qualify.