Washington Post reporter Chris Davenport was asked by his editor to buy a gun. Follow Davenport's journey as he navigates the practical and moral issues of purchasing and owning a handgun in D.C.
Union Station, Washington DC
This is an Open Thread.
Gun owners, feel free to share your own experience becoming a gun owner. Teach us about the requirements where you live and whether you think they are reasonable, too restrictive, or in need of reform. Not a gun owner? Can you imagine any circumstances under which you might consider owning a gun? This is an invitation to walk in someone else's shoes for a short while.
Join us below the fold to chat about Mr. Davenport's experience becoming a gun owner.
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The Daily Kos Firearms Law and Policy group studies actions for reducing firearm deaths and injuries in a manner that is consistent with the current Supreme Court interpretation of the Second Amendment. We also cover the many positive aspects of gun ownership, including hunting, shooting sports, and self-defense.
To see our list of original and republished diaries, go to the Firearms Law and Policy diary list. Click on the ♥ or the word "Follow" next to our group name to add our posts to your stream, and use the link next to the heart to send a message to the group if you have a question or would like to join.
We have adopted Wee Mama's and akadjian's guidance on communicating. But most important, be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
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This diary is part of our series considering the constitutionality of our nation's most strict state and local gun laws. We began our study in October with Maryland's so-called "good cause" law, Woollard v. Gallagher, that requires applicants to show proof of their need to carry a gun in public. Now we turn to Washington DC, which imposes our nation's most onerous requirements on gun owners. Five diaries will attempt to flesh out the unique features of Washington DC and the regulatory scheme passed by the city council.
I - Concealed Carry Law Petitions SCOTUS - Woollard v. Gallagher
II - A liberal buys a gun in DC (Chris Davenport at The Washington Post)
III - A conservative buys a gun in DC (Emily Miller at Washington Times)
IV - Washington DC Gun Registration and Safety Training Requirements
V - Woollard v. Gallagher - What is Intermediate Scrutiny?
VI - DC Gun Laws Go to Court - Dick Anthony Heller Takes Another Turn at Bat
Background
In DC vs. Heller, the Supreme Court overturned three provisions of DC gun law with a a 5-4 decision. The case established an individual right to keep and bear arms in one's home for lawful self defense. The relief granted to Mr. Heller was that he be allowed to register his handgun with the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department and undergo safety training. Shortly thereafter the DC city council passed emergency legislation to become compliant with the Supreme Court opinion. They then held public hearings, and modified their registration and licensing scheme to what it is today. Of course, various provisions of the new laws have been challenged in court and are working their way up to eventual review by the Roberts Court.
Editor's Note: This article is from 2009, shortly after the DC City Council passed emergency firearms legislation to comply with the Supreme Court decision in DC v. Heller, and before the changes that are in effect today. Here's a link for those who like to read ahead, DC Firearms Registration Procedures.
Watch a video of Chris Davenport's experience by Elaine McMillion The Washington Post, A Loaded Gun. Washington Post reporter Chris Davenport was asked by his editor to buy a gun. Follow Davenport's journey as he navigates the practical and moral issues of purchasing and owning a handgun in D.C.
Passing D.C.'s Rules to Get a Gun Was Hard, but the Weapon Posed Its Own Test
by By Christian Davenport, The Washington Post (September 2, 2009)
It took $833.69, a total of 15 hours 50 minutes, four trips to the Metropolitan Police Department, two background checks, a set of fingerprints, a five-hour class and a 20-question multiple-choice exam. [...]
Reluctantly, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's administration set up a process through which about 550 residents -- now including yours truly -- have acquired a handgun. But as my four trips to the police department attest, D.C. officials haven't made it easy.
Which was exactly their intent. The day the Heller decision was announced, Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) vowed that the city was still "going to have the strictest handgun laws the Constitution allows." Fenty decried the ruling, saying that "more handguns in the District of Columbia will only lead to more handgun violence." [...]
I've been surrounded my whole life by people who see guns as a cause of social ill, not a cure. But what if they're wrong? I live in a dangerous part of a dangerous city. I've heard gunshots from my bedroom window clearly enough so there was no mistaking them for firecrackers. And then, about a month or so ago, my wife went out to her car and saw the glass on the ground and then the shattered window. Nothing can make you want a gun more than that sickening, helpless moment when you realize you are more vulnerable than you had thought.
* * *
If I lived in Virginia, I'd simply walk into a shop, show my ID, fill out forms and then wait while the store calls for my background check, which can take all of three minutes. If I pass, the gun is mine. Or I could buy a gun from a private citizen and forgo the background check. No safety course required (unless I'm applying for a concealed-handgun permit, which is not even an option in the District). [...]
And that's why at the range, [...]
The first shots are an absolute shock, a full-body experience I feel in my shoulders, hips and knees. The gun doesn't fire so much as explode, kicking back ferociously, releasing a hot whiff of air and a bright red flash from the muzzle. It's louder, more violent and more cannon[-]like than I expected, and I realize that part of me is more than nervous. I'm a little scared.
But also thrilled. There is a rush, a blood-pumping high, which builds with each shot as the once foreign sensation becomes more familiar and evokes a basic, even primitive, emotion. Like Zeus throwing lightning bolts, I control that frightening explosion. I make the red flash. I make the smoke curl from the muzzle.
Plus, it turns out I'm a decent shot. [...]
Later, studying my target, Abraham says I pass, which is a huge relief. But he points to a bullet hole a few inches to the right of the head.
"That's an innocent bystander," he says.
...Continue reading Passing D.C.'s Rules to Get a Gun Was Hard, but the Weapon Posed Its Own Test
Coming up tomorrow evening?
Is Justus Rosemond Done For or Will He Get a New Trial? by TRPChicago
On a Tuesday last month this courtroom was full.
For decades, state and Federal criminal laws have imposed heavier penalties on crimes where a firearm is in play. What about accomplices who may not have had anything to do with the gun? What does a prosecutor have to show to prove a perp is guilty of the armed offense? This was the question argued before the Court in Rosemond v. US last month.
TRPChicago previewed the case
here, before oral arguments were heard by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, November 12, 2013.
In tomorrow's diary, TRPChicago gives us a guided tour of the oral arguments made in court, including Kossack's own evaluation of the petition in the comment threads of I Didn't Know the Gun...! SCOTUS to Hear Rosemond v US. We will also present the full transcript in a companion diary.