After all, why not?
For those that are confused by the title, perhaps you are unfamiliar with the recent ruling in Heller vs. Washington, D. C. in which the Supreme Court upheld the right of citizens to bear arms as individuals. Furthermore, they ruled that the law in Washington, D.C. banning handguns was unconstitutional.
Washington, D. C. has responded to the court ruling with this document (pdf format, Adobe Acrobat required). There are a few requirements for exercising your constitutional rights:
You must be 21 years of age.
While I think it’s ludicrous that you can enlist in the military and be entrusted to protect our country with deadly force at the age of 18 but not be responsible enough to own a gun, I can’t really say “No” to this one. Twenty-one seems to be a good age, where responsibility might finally begin to catch up to capability.
Complete a firearms application.
No one has to apply for free speech or to practice a religion. Why should they have to “apply” to own a firearm? This is something guaranteed. The application is pointless and unnecessary.
Bring proof of residency.
See above; this is undoubtedly to satisfy the D.C. Secret Police that you are, indeed, in their jurisdiction.
Bring two passport photos, front-facing.
I’m not the one requiring registration. If you, as a municipal body are wanting to register me to own a firearm, buy a camera and an inkjet with some glossy paper. It isn’t my responsibility to pander to the bureaucratic nonsense that you’re already wasting my tax dollars on.
Be fingerprinted.
What crime has a potential registrant committed that they must go through a pre-book? Does D.C. fear the murder machines so much that have to go ahead and have half of the booking process completed before you commit a crime? Or is it that if you want to own a firearm, you’re halfway to becoming a criminal already? Again, ludicrous. Go ahead and add DNA samples and a retinal scan while you’re at it. If you’re going to be Big Brother, at least do it right.
Pass a 20-question multiple choice test.
You can’t even require someone to read to be able to vote. How, then, you can make someone pass a test (that they don’t define) to exercise their second amendment right? What exactly is on this test?
Complete a notarized firearms eligibility statement.
This one is pure nonsense–it’s just another piece of paper that creates a job for a bureaucrat in D.C. Who pays the notary? The registrant does, I’m sure.
Once you have completed all the necessary paperwork, you must pay $13 dollars per firearm to register them, plus you must pay $35 for the fingerprint processing fee. That’s a total of $48. After you do all that, we find out that semi-automatic handguns are still banned in D.C. You can own a revolver, a rifle, or a shotgun, but the shotgun must be greater than 20″ in length (eliminating a host of home defense weapons with 18″ barrels) and the rifles must not hold more than twelve rounds (or be readily converted to HOLD more than twelve rounds). That means that anything that can take a magazine that holds more than that is right out. That includes popular weapons such as the AR-15, the Ruger Mini 14, a Ruger 10-22, or a lot of the pistol caliber carbines.
I envision D.C. going back to court on this one.
To bring this full circle, I would like to point out that poll taxes were declared unconstitutional in Harper vs. Virginia Board of Elections. This case is similar in that a local government was using a “fee” as a prequisite for exercising a right guaranteed under the auspices of the constitution. Even though the rights here are different, the principle is exactly the same.
While I agree with your logic, Pete, I just don’t have the faith in the human race that would allow for mamby pamby gun laws. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the right to bear arms — but I don’t think the founding fathers had envisioned the types of firearms readily available today.
I’m on board with everyone being able to get a muzzle-loader without lots of hoops to jump through.
Even assuming I thought the general population was intellectually capable of arming themselves (I’m not convinced), where does the progression end? We’ve gone from muzzle-loaders to fully automatic handguns. In another hundred years, should we be able to get the shoulder-holster nuclear fallout pistol?
Again, I agree with where you’re coming from, but I know too many idiots. Waaaaay too many idiots. If they could easily and readily get handguns, they’d be armed, dangerous, irresponsible, oft intoxicated idiots. That sounds more like a horror film than freedom to me.
I’m not opposed to a higher tax for weapons of self defense, but it will never be allowed. It would be considered unfair to the poor.
http://www.firearmsid.com/Feature%20Articles/0900GUIC/Guns%20Used%20in%20Crime.htm
10 most frequently traced guns in 1994
1 Lorcin P25 .25 Pistol 3,223
2 Davis Industries P380 380A Pistol 2,454
3 Raven Arms MP25 .25 Pistol 2,107
4 Lorcin L25 .25 Pistol 1,258
5 Mossburg 500 12G Shotgun 1,015
6 Phoenix Arms Raven .25 Pistol 959
7 Jennings J22 .22 Pistol 929
8 Ruger P89 9 mm Pistol 895
9 Glock 17 9 mm Pistol 843
10 Bryco 38 .38 Pistol 820
Good video on youtube from economist Steven Levitt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UGC2nLnaes
“Levitt explains in the video that one of his graduate students through a chance encounter had developed a relationship with the leader of an inner city gang. They capitalized upon this relationship and were given full access to members of the gangs and even to the gang’s financial books. Being economists, they focused on the finances of gang life as well as other statistics such as mortality rates. According to Levitt, the wages of a street level soldier and drug dealer works out to only about $3.50 per hour. The death rate of these same street soldiers not even earning minimum wage makes it is the most dangerous ‘occupation’ in the United States experience a higher mortality rate than soldiers in Iraq or even condemned prisoners on death row.
That figure of $3.50/hour is important to consider though when the gun ban lobby declares that the evil gun de jure is the “weapon of choice” of gang members. These guns are simply way beyond the means of drug dealers and street soldiers. This includes the S&W .500 magnum, the FN Five-seveN, the Barrett 50, and most if not all ARs and AKs. In fact, it probably includes a vast majority of the weapons enumerated in the 1994 crime bill.
There is a reason gang-banger shootouts involve weapons with names such as Lorcin, Jennings, and Bryco–those guns are clearly all that street soldiers can afford. Arguments to control and ban guns based on their supposed appeal to gang members and terrorists for that matter is quite simply race baiting. As Al Gore would say, “they play on our fears” and try to foster an ugly, racist fear of “the other” in the American public.”
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/guns.htm
Offenders
According to the 1997 Survey of State Prison Inmates, among those possessing a gun, the source of the gun was from -
a flea market or gun show for fewer than 2%
a retail store or pawnshop for about 12%
family, friends, a street buy, or an illegal source for 80%
During the offense that brought them to prison, 15% of State inmates and 13% of Federal inmates carried a handgun, and about 2%, a military-style semiautomatic gun.
On average, State inmates possessing a firearm received sentences of 18 years, while those without a weapon had an average sentence of 12 years.
Among prisoners carrying a firearm during their crime, 40% of State inmates and 56% of Federal inmates received a sentence enhancement because of the firearm.
[...] predicted this would happen in an earlier post. I’m delighted to see it come to [...]