D.C. AG: 'This is not open season with handguns'

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court may have struck down the District's 32-year-old ban on handguns, but that doesn't mean you can go out and buy one today.

D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles says D.C. will start issuing permits to own a gun in 21 days, once the Supreme Court hands their decision down to the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C.

"This is not open season with handguns," Nickles says. "We are going to strictly regulate the registration of handguns. There will be no authorization of automatic or semi-automatics."

The city may also require that trigger locks be kept on guns, Nickles says. The law will restrict people who are mentally ill and who are criminals from owning guns.

Nickles says he expects to allow gun stores to open in the District. There are currently two people who are licensed to sell guns in the District, but there are no gun stores.

D.C. Council Chairman Vince Gray tells WTOP he still hopes to craft laws that will keep D.C.'s laws the most restrictive in the country.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier tells WTOP her biggest concerns are accidents in the home and the safety of her officers who enter homes on a daily basis.

For the next 21 days, D.C. Police officers will use discretion if they arrest anyone with an illegal gun in the home. If a person is found with a gun but is not committing any other crimes, the person will not be charged.

D.C. Police say they will grant amnesty to people who currently have guns, and allow them to register their guns.

(Watch the reactions of Mayor Adrian Fenty, Chief Lanier and regular citizens in the video below.)

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