District of Columbia Rejects Heller's Gun Application

There's de facto (in fact) violation of a constitutional right, and there's de jure (in law) violations. The Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia's de jure violation of the Second Amendment in District of Columbia v. Heller.

Now, the District appears hell bent on engaging in a de facto violation by making completely unreasonable and overly restrictive limitations on gun ownership and handling of firearms that puts the District squarely at risk of spending millions of dollars to lose in court yet again.

Dick Heller is the man who brought the lawsuit against the District's 32-year-old ban on handguns. He was among the first in line Thursday morning to apply for a handgun permit.

But when he tried to register his semi-automatic weapon, he says he was rejected. He says his gun has seven bullet clip. Heller says the City Council legislation allows weapons with fewer than eleven bullets in the clip. A spokesman for the DC Police says the gun was a bottom-loading weapon, and according to their interpretation, all bottom-loading guns are outlawed because they are grouped with machine guns.

Besides obtaining paperwork to buy new handguns, residents also can register firearms they've had illegally under a 180-day amnesty period.

Basically, the District is claiming that only six shooters are eligible to be registered as firearms. 9mm automatic handguns, such as those used by police forces around the country, would be illegal under the District's interpretation.

The District further intends:

Firearms in the home must be stored unloaded and disassembled, and secured with either a trigger lock, gun safe, or similar device. The new law will allow an exception for a firearm while it is being used against an intruder in the home.

Yes, I'm sure that an intruder will wait and give a person the time to assemble a gun to be used. Asinine doesn't begin to cover this. More here.

Of course, the District runs afoul of the Heller decision, which anticipated this kind of chicanery.