Gun Bill Provides for Self-Defense

Mendelson Responds to High Court Objection to D.C. Law

District gun owners would be able to keep weapons in their homes, loaded and without trigger locks, for "immediate self-defense" under legislation being introduced in the D.C. Council today.

The bill, sponsored by Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), would also repeal the city's 32-year-old ban on handguns, which was struck down last week by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5 to 4 ruling. Mendelson released a draft of his legislation yesterday.

The bill specifically addresses the majority opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia that said, "We hold that the District's ban on handgun possession in the home violates the Second Amendment, as does its prohibition against rendering any lawful firearm in the home operable for the purpose of immediate self-defense."

Technically, the legislation would still require that firearms be kept unloaded and disabled, but it would provide a broad exception for guns that are present in the home for the purpose of "immediate self-defense." The exception is intended to address the high court's objection to a requirement that all guns be kept unloaded and either disassembled or outfitted with trigger locks.

The exception would extend to firearms at the owner's "place of business, or . . . being used for lawful recreational purposes within the District of Columbia," according to the draft.

Interim Attorney General Peter J. Nickles, who has said he wants a strong trigger lock requirement, said he will request that the council delay any action until the administration of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) can review the bill and offer comment.

Mendelson, chairman of the council Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, had previously said he would wait until September to introduce legislation.

Jason Shedlock, Mendelson's special assistant, said that today's action was a jumping-off point, intended to get council members and other city officials to start thinking about what should be in the new gun law. The council would not vote on the bill until it returned in the fall from a summer recess, he said.

Mendelson said, however, that he is open to sponsoring emergency legislation to comply immediately with the court's ruling. The council's last legislative meeting before the break is scheduled for July 15.

Mendelson is planning a public roundtable on the Supreme Court ruling tomorrow and said his actions would be guided by speakers' comments. "We may find from the hearing on Wednesday that emergency legislation is necessary," he said during a news briefing on today's council agenda.

The legislation would require a ballistics record for registered handguns and a waiting period for registration. The length of the waiting period would be determined by the D.C. police chief.

Lawyer Alan Gura, who successfully argued against the handgun ban before the Supreme Court, said in an interview that the waiting period for the city's legal firearms -- rifles and shotguns -- is already "onerous and kind of odd."

"It can take months and months," he said. "You have to submit a picture. They fingerprint people. . . . I don't believe it should take five or six months to purchase a gun."

An instant background check should be incorporated into the city's new laws, he said.

After looking at the draft yesterday, Gura said in an e-mail, "It's a good start, but there are other issues with the code."

In particular, he is concerned about the city's decision to continue a ban on semiautomatic weapons, which he said is unconstitutional.