Council Considering Gun Law Changes

City Responds to High Court Ruling

The D.C. Council is looking at instituting criminal and mental background checks, waiting periods and other measures in response to the historic Supreme Court decision striking down the city's 32-year ban on handguns.

The public will be able to weigh in at a roundtable Wednesday on how the city should respond to Thursday's ruling. The decision marked the first time the Supreme Court has ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to own a gun.

Yesterday, Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), chairman of the council's Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, which must shepherd in the city's new laws, was not fazed.

"It's real simple," he said. "To bring our law into compliance, we have to change two sentences."

The current law bans handguns and requires all guns to be fitted with trigger locks, unloaded and disassembled. All of that will be tweaked, he said.

But Mendelson and other members said the council has time to carefully draft legislation.

"This is something where they want to take their time and get it right," General Counsel Brian K. Flowers said.

The city's law requiring that owners of shotguns and rifles register their weapons will apply to handgun owners, he said. And the current restrictions banning handguns will stay in effect for 21 days, until a lower court issues an injunction to enforce the Supreme Court's ruling, city officials said.

Mendelson said he does not plan to propose legislation until September, although he might consider emergency legislation by July 15, the last legislative session before the council's summer recess.

Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said he would call a special meeting during recess if necessary. He said the council will look at other cities, such as New York and Philadelphia, for guidance. In addition to background checks and waiting periods, the council could establish requirements for carrying guns outside the home, he said.

Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) is calling for restrictions on where gun stores can be located and a requirement that store owners enter into "voluntary agreements with community residents through their advisory neighborhood commissions before such establishments can be issued a certificate of occupancy."

"We need to safeguard the public," he said. "We're exploring some very different avenues."

Thomas, chairman of the Committee on Libraries, Parks and Recreation, is also recommending that training and education be handled through parks and recreation.

Acting Attorney General Peter J. Nickles said he has recommended that the council consider keeping the law on trigger locks. Mendelson, however, said the city will have to be mindful of the court's ruling that the city's law requiring that a weapon be disabled infringes on an individual's right to "immediate self-defense."

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) nominated Nickles yesterday to be the permanent attorney general, pointing to his leadership, including in the gun ban case.