by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor

For more than three decades people seeking legal restoration of the means and the right to self-defense in the nation’s capital debated whether the judges or lawmakers offered the best avenue for relief. Now, it seems, both were always needed.

While the June 26 Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller opened the door to a solution by declaring several of Washington, DC’s gun laws unconstitutional, it didn’t explain what restrictions were permitted.

District officials enacted temporary new guns laws that critics said violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the Supreme Court decision. Among those who complained were Members of Congress, many of whom had been striving for a legislated solution for years.

Now, as this issue of Gun Week goes to press, the House of Representatives as well as the Washington City Council are poised to resolve the issue within the framework provided by the Supreme Court.

In a strong bipartisan effort, House Democrats and Republicans recently joined forces to introduce HR-6691, the “Second Amendment Enforcement Act.” This legislation supported by the National Rifle Association would overturn Washington, DC’s newly enacted “emergency gun control laws.”

According to the NRA, the “Second Amendment Enforcement Act,” if passed, will:

• Repeal the District’s ban on semi-automatic handguns, those most commonly used for personal and property defense:
  
  
• Restore the right of self-defense by repealing the requirement that firearms be disassembled or secured with a trigger lock in the home;
  
  
• Reform the current DC registration system that requires multiple visits to police headquarters; ballistics testing; passing a written test on DC gun laws; fingerprinting, and limiting registration to one handgun per 90 days.
  
  
• Create a limited exemption to the federal ban on interstate handgun sales by allowing DC residents to purchase handguns in Virginia and Maryland.

According to The Hill newspaper, liberal and conservative Democrats fought over the new federal DC gun bill during committee markups. The measure is likely to be modified during the House debate and floor vote, depending on the final rules.

The Hill claimed “it’s a fight some say the liberals are doomed to lose, at least in the House.”

It’s been a fight not just about guns for self-defense but about home rule in DC which is legally under the control of Congress.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that DC officials have drafted legislation that would do away with several remaining firearms restrictions, including safe-storage requirements and a provision that bars ownership of semi-automatic pistols.

The legislation was scheduled to come up for a vote in the DC Council the week of Sept. 15, possibly the same day the House was expected to vote on a bill that would virtually end local handgun control in the District.

Council Member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) said on Sept. 12 that he has worked with the administration of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) in drafting the new legislation. The changes would go beyond emergency legislation passed by the council after the Supreme Court ruling.

Although the move by the city to ease handgun restrictions coincides with the House effort to virtually strip the District of its power to regulate firearms, Mendelson said officials are not seeking to placate members of Congress. He said the proposed changes, which he was planning to urge the council to pass in mid-September, result from a careful review of the Supreme Court decision in the weeks since it was issued June 26.

“I think we’re addressing the Supreme Court ruling and, coincidentally, addressing Congress’s concern,” said Mendelson. And by addressing the Supreme Court ruling, he said, “it will pull out the underpinnings of the argument for that legislation on Capitol Hill.”