A Work in Progress

That's probably a good thing, since it's still virtually impossible to get one. As of late Wednesday night, only 11 people had started the process of registering a handgun and 164 people had picked up application packets. Only 1 handgun has been completely registered.

In a few days, gun dealers from Maryland, Virginia and the District will gather in downtown D.C. to hear from officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The dealers hope they'll get some answers to questions like: how do they sell a handgun to a District resident, and can gun stores open in D.C.?

The only way to register a gun right now is if you had an illegal gun in the District and you take advantage of the amnesty, or if you owned a gun and stored it in Maryland or Virginia. Then you could drive your gun into the District as long as you were taking it to police headquarters for registration.

The Smith & Wesson 38 that I bought last week, still sits in the Maryland gun store waiting for a licensed gun dealer in the District. When a dealer is eventually fully licensed in D.C., federal law requires that it be shipped by 2-day-air, according to the gun dealer in Maryland. It might be possible for the licensed gun dealer in D.C. to drive to the gun stores in Maryland and Virginia and transport them back. That's another question for the ATF briefing.

One more question: Can individuals make a person-to-person sale in the District?

The current handgun law in the District expires in less than 90 days. The mayor and D.C. Council will have to enact permanent legislation when the Council gets back from summer break. Most likely, the regulations will change. The question is how much. At least one councilmember has voiced a willingness to allow some semi-automatic handguns; others have voiced concern about the temporary law being so restrictive as to invite new lawsuits. And there are issues the temporary legislation doesn't address, such as: gun stores, training requirement, gun ranges, and transporting guns.

It's possible the Council could pass permanent legislation that would be more restrictive than the temporary. Council Chairman Vince Gray says he wants to make it impossible for gun stores of any type to operate in the District. But it's more likely things will get easier for residents who want a handgun, if only because at some point a gun dealer will get licensed in the District, and the legal handguns will start coming in.

Of course, in this election year, there is a slim chance it could get a lot easier to get a handgun. D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton sent out an urgent press release Tuesday afternoon warning of an "unprecedented attack on D.C."

Norton was referring to a Bill sponsored by Representative Mark Souder (R-IN). According to the press release, "HR 1399 would repeal D.C. gun laws, repeal the ban on handguns, repeal the ban on semiautomatic weapons, repeal all registration requirements, and eliminate criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm, going far beyond what the Supreme Court decision mandates."

And while there is a Democratic majority in Congress, it is an election year. So there's that.

All in all, the District's gun laws remain a work in progress.

Click here to read Mark Segraves' previous blog on the D.C. Gun Ban.

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