Results tagged “handgun”

Legislation revising the District's gun regulations passed the House today in a 266-152 vote. From the AP:

The bill, sponsored by Mississippi freshman Democrat Travis Childers, repeals the District's semiautomatic handgun ban and overturns D.C. law requiring that firearms kept in the home be locked up and inoperable. It allows D.C. residents to purchase guns from federally licensed dealers in Maryland and Virginia and repeals what critics claimed were burdensome registration requirements.

The battle between Congress and the District over the city's gun laws continues today.

Well that was quick. We just got word that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform apparently has scheduled a markup tomorrow on legislation that would gut the District's current gun regulations. As you can read earlier, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) have tried to preempt Congress, but the committee doesn't seem too impressed. We don't yet have a time for the markup, but the folks at DC Vote have asked that concerned residents pack the hearing room. You can check their website for updates on when the markup will go down.

As we mentioned this morning, today the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is holding a hearing to discuss legislation that would do away with the District's newly-issued regulations on gun ownership. According to the pro-gun crowd, the city's regulations are still restrictive enough to violate the Supreme Court's June decision holding the District's handgun ban to be unconstitutional.

As we mentioned yesterday, gun sales in the District will officially kick off next Tuesday, Sept. 9. But the city's only licensed gun seller so far won't actually be selling guns, he'll just be facilitating transfers from guns purchased in other states. So what about gun shops?

D.C. Police Chief, Cathy Lanier was on WTOP's Ask the Chief program and said she's been told federal authorities will issue final approval to a firearms dealer in the District soon...Charles Sykes is the only licensed gun dealer in the city who is willing to facilitate the transfer of handguns from out-of-state dealers into the District. Sykes, who has been transferring handguns for security firms since 1994, is waiting for the ATF to approve his change of address before he can start doing business again. Sykes tells WTOP he met with ATF inspectors on Tuesday. "They inspected my office," Sykes says. "They say it should be only a few weeks now, then I'll get my license from the District police and I'll be back in business."

Federal prosecutors announced today that no charges will be filed against the two off-duty D.C. police officers who were involved in the fatal shooting of 14-year-old DeOnté Rawlings on Sept. 17, 2007.

Big news from the Washington Post: D.C. Attorney General Linda Singer has resigned after less than a year on the job.

>> Oh noes! The Ron Paul blimp launch was delayed, and rescheduled for its D.C. appearance on Wednesday at 3 p.m. [via Wonkette] >> D.C.'s Beacon House Falcons of Edgewood Terrace won Pop Warner Football’s Pee Wee Division I Super Bowl championship on Saturday. [Notions Capital] >> Former D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey no longer thinks handgun bans are such a good idea now that he works for a city that doesn't have one....

In Los Angeles, LAist most definitely celebrated Thanksgiving like no other. After all, one has to keep up all the energy to keep on walking the line at the Writers Strike and fighting the unfortunate return of the wildfires in Malibu, which single handedly destroyed over fifty homes within the first 24 hours. National outlets may be covering the fires, but CNN also found it is easier to buy a gun than fruit and...

The Supreme Court has announced that it will take on Heller v. District of Columbia, the D.C. handgun case, and decide whether our city's ban on handguns violates the Constitution. The Court will likely hear the case sometime in March, with a decision to come later in the session. The case will mark the first time the Court has taken up the meaning of the Second Amendment in almost 70 years, and the decision could...

Good morning, Washington. Recent increases in gun-related crime in the city seems to be today's main topic of news, just as the Supreme Court may announce today whether it intends to take another look at D.C.'s handgun ban. D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has scheduled a press conference this morning to address the District's position on its gun safety law, but in the meantime the Washington Post is questioning the law's effectiveness and just last...

Good morning, D.C. The federal government is observing Veteran's Day today, which means Washington is much quieter than normal this morning. The chilly, wet weather certainly isn't helping make the work day, for those of us who are at our desks, any more inviting. Keep in mind that post offices, banks, schools and local government offices are closed for the day as well. Coal Train Clean-up Continues: Workers are still out cleaning up the site...

The Examiner has some exclusive info on a gun that was recovered that matches the .45 caliber bullets found at the scene of the fatal shooting of 15 year-old DeOnte Rawlings. Police found the gun in the apartment of Clifton Coleman, 18, who was arrested last week for shooting his girlfriend in the face, and was a friend of Rawlings. It's still unclear, however, whether Rawlings fired shots with the gun the night he was...

Mayor Adrian Fenty has announced the city has formally filed an appeal to the Supreme Court in the hopes that it will overturn a March decision in which a lower court found that the District's ban on handguns was unconstitutional. Though the appeal has been a month in the making, Fenty and D.C. Attorney General Linda Singer today explained their reasoning in an op-ed published in the Post. In it, they reject the individual right...

Good morning, Washington, and welcome to September. After what was quite possibly the most beautiful weekend in the history of late summer weather in this city, we've finally arrived at the date many of us still associate with "back-to-school" -- the Tuesday after Labor Day. So sharpen your pencils, polish your lunchbox and make sure you have the right Trapper Keeper as we check out today's headlines. At Least Four Weekend Killings: The Examiner...

>> "A public meeting on taxicab meters scheduled for Wednesday has been canceled, apparently because too many people were interested in attending and the D.C. Taxicab Commission couldn't guarantee them parking." [Examiner] >> A former escort linked to embattled Sen. David Vitter is set to testify that alleged D.C. Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey's escort service provided illegal prostitution. [WTOP] >> Libertarian billionaire Robert Levy would like to give all D.C. residents a handgun. Or...

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too – two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the...

This morning Mayor Adrian Fenty announced that he would appeal a March ruling that found that the District's handgun law was unconstitutional to the U.S. Supreme Court. His decision sets up the first major battle in decades over whether the Second Amendment confers an individual or collective right to own a handgun. Moreover, it could have a profound effect on gun regulations across the country should the Supreme Court side with the lower court. The...

After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the District's restrictive handgun laws were unconstitutional in early March, Mayor Adrian Fenty was quick to promise a swift appeal. But when the full court declined to rehear the case two months later, thus forcing a potential showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court, Fenty was forced to slam on the brakes. Since then, he and his legal team have grappled with a vexing...

One of those longstanding D.C. arguments may be finally coming to a resolution, and you can feel the excitement in the air this morning, Washington. No, it's not the handgun ban, or taxicab meters, or anything to do with voting rights -- but there sure are a lot of longstanding arguments in this town, now that we mention it. Rather, metro riders should keep their eyes peeled for two railcars that will soon be sporting...

We do hope you had a pleasant, relaxing, not too horribly hot weekend, Washington. Even if you didn't, chances are your Monday morning is shaping up to be less of a hassle than it is for the staff of Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA). Webb finally admitted over the weekend that he owns the gun that his aide, Phillip Thompson, was arrested for carrying into the Capitol in March. What kept him from clearing up...

Good morning, D.C. Did you have a good weekend dodging and weaving between all those digestive disease specialists in town? We couldn't help but be impressed by the sea of 20,000 be-purple backpacked conference attendees, and kept hoping we'd meet one or two who could explain to us exactly what Crohn's Disease is anyway. WJLA was kind enough to remind us that Digestive Disease Week will have brought in $32 million to the District when...

Wednesday brought more developments in the Virginia Tech shootings that left 33 people dead, including the gunman, Cho Seung Hui -- a South Korean citizen who grew up in the Washington suburb of Centreville, Va. In addition to the teachers who have come forward saying they alerted the administration over a year ago about Cho's behavior, today more people described him as a loner who barely spoke to his class- and suite-mates. Several said he...

Breaking just now: The DC Voting Rights Act (now H.R. 1905) is scheduled to return to the House Floor tomorrow, Thursday for a vote. The move comes after a week of speculation that Majority Leader Steny Hoyer had removed the bill from this week's schedule for unclear reasons. Today it is now definite: the bill will come to a vote tomorrow. The bill originally stalled on the House Floor last month after three Republican...

Today Mayor Adrian Fenty formally announced he's appealing the U.S. Appellate Court's decision to overturn the city's restrictive handgun laws. The statutes, on the books for over 30 years, severely limit firearms ownership, a policy the court said violates the Second Amendment. Fenty's appeal comes as no surprise. Though we found mixed reactions in early March, most D.C. officials support the ban. The mayor's case will first be reheard in the Court of Appeals, but...

Republicans in Congress just haven't been nice to the District lately -- they delayed a vote on the voting rights bill by adding a rider to end D.C.'s handgun ban, and now they're preventing a free concert from being held near the Capitol on July 7. The concert was to be part of Al Gore's Live Earth series of concerts to raise environmental awareness and was to feature some combination of acts like the Police,...

Good morning, D.C. Thanks to all of you who came out to the Voting Rights Happy Hour last night. We had a great time meeting everyone and chatting about the future of full voting rights for D.C. Our friends and co-hosts at DC Vote were thrilled to be able to sign up so many new interested members and volunteers for their upcoming Voting Rights March on April 16, so thanks to them for coming out...

Good morning, D.C. We're all still recovering from yesterday's lively debate on the House floor on the D.C. Voting Rights Act, which as you already know was successfully stalled by Republicans when they attempted to attach language repealing the District's handgun ban to the bill. This morning tireless WaPo voting rights correspondent Mary Beth Sheridan brings us a full account, with word that "The bill's supporters said they hope to return the D.C. vote legislation...

OK, we're going to try live blogging debate on the House floor as much as we can. Acting speaker right now is Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D- CA). Floor manager Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Judiciary Chairman, has just finished introducing the legislation and expressing his belief that the District Clause allows the Congress to make any laws for D.C. it sees fit. 12:27 p.m.: Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is currently making the case on behalf...