District Gun Bill Goes to Council

The rules announced yesterday bring the District closer to gun restrictions in cities such as Chicago, said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

His staff huddled with the District on the regulations, but Helmke said it is uncertain which parts would withstand constitutional muster. Firearms may be banned, the majority opinion in the Heller case maintained, only if the weapons are "unusual and dangerous."

"It's not clear what that means," Helmke said. "This is the problem with getting the courts involved. These are usually issues that are determined by elected officials."

Gun-rights advocates said after the ruling that they would immediately target other jurisdictions with similar laws, and those favoring gun control were encouraged by the acknowledgment that reasonable restrictions on guns are allowed.

The District is trying to determine where the line is, and it is trying to push it as far as it can go.

The council had recently given unanimous preliminary approval to legislation that would allow gun owners to keep weapons in their homes without trigger locks as long as they were for "immediate self-defense." But yesterday, several council members said they agreed with tougher language that requires weapons to be unloaded, disassembled or trigger locked, except when there is a "threat of immediate harm to a person" in the home.

Nickles said residents could neither keep their guns loaded in anticipation of a problem nor search for an intruder on their property. The porch is off-limits, he said, as well as the yard and any outbuildings.

"We do not want people running around with loaded guns outside," Nickles said.

Gray and other council members said they were bracing for another fight in court. "We're trying to figure out how close we can get to where we were before," Gray said. "This will be a legal sparring round for a few years."

Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) said in a statement that the emergency legislation is a start. "But, because we really haven' t changed the storage rule from the prior unconstitutional law and because of other features, I do agree that this is a lawsuit waiting to happen," she said. "But we'll be prepared."

Nickles was more direct: "We figured it out until the court tells us we haven't." The new legislation would be in effect for 90 days, and council members expect to start work on permanent legislation in mid-September, Gray said.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said the department would begin processing applications upon passage of the legislation. While a permanent law is being drawn up, residents could register one gun each.

Those purchasing a handgun in another jurisdiction must take a form to a licensed dealer, who would then transport the weapon to the District. Those who already own a handgun have a six-month amnesty period to register their weapons, assuming that they are not automatic or semiautomatic pistols. Those are still illegal.

Guns must be submitted to the Firearms Registration Section for ballistic testing. Once complete, the applicant could take the gun home. Lanier said the entire process could take "weeks or months." Fenty said that guns used in the commission of a crime would not be subject to the amnesty provision.

Staff writer Michael Birnbaum contributed to this report.