Washington DC Trying To Ban Guns Through Regulation
The Supreme Court, in two landmark cases, has ruled that the 2nd amendment is an individual right, and that neither the federal government nor the states can remove that right from an individual without due process. Washington DC was party to one of these cases, DC vs. Heller, and had its ban on guns struck down by the courts.
In response, Washington DC has started to allow ownership of guns. In theory, anyway. In reality, the process to get a gun is so complicated that it’s pretty much impossible to complete it.
And now it is, literally, impossible.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court smacked down D.C. gun-control measures and reaffirmed the constitutional protection for the individual’s right to own a handgun. Since then, the District has cooked up a labyrinth of pointless restrictions and rules crafted to ensure this fundamental right would rarely be exercised. The city may have gone a step too far, as it is now impossible for any law-abiding citizen to obtain a gun in the nation’s capital.
That’s because the District manipulated its zoning laws to ensure gun brokers would not be welcome. With no gun stores, the only way to obtain a pistol lawfully is to make a purchase in another state and have the gun shipped to a Federal Firearms License (FFL) holder in the District. A federal law prohibits acquisition of a firearm across state lines in any other way.
The lone FFL holder doing business in Washington recently lost his lease and can no longer perform such transfers.
This is a common tactic used by people pushing to prohibit any sort of transaction or activity. If they lack the political support, or the legal authority, to institute an outright ban they’ll use regulation to make the transaction/activity so difficult to perform it may as well be banned.
Again, technically guns aren’t banned in DC. But good luck trying to get one.
Tags: gun control, Guns
