Day 54 in the So-Called Capitol of the Free World

On this, my fourth visit to the gun registration office, I planned to quickly pick up my completed and approved application. Alas, said application was not completed. I waited patiently while the office applied the necessary numbers, stamps, and embossed seals to my paperwork. On application of the 'APPROVED' stamp and city seal, the 'application' becomes the 'registration' and they provide you with three copies of same. You keep one with the firearm at all times (including during transport), and turn another over to the dealer. It is not clear what the third copy is for. None of the copies is actually marked as to its' intended recipient or purpose. Perhaps it's time to update the form? Also, the registration for the firearm serves as the registration for the ammunition, but only the ammunition of that same caliber. As a resident of DC it is forbidden for me to possess ammunition for a caliber of gun which I do not own and have registered. There is no separate process for registering ammunition. It should be noted, that at this point the officer kindly returned two of four passport photos as only two were actually required.

That evening after work, I returned to the dealer to pick up the gun. In the end, it took 54 days to get to the point where I could walk into the gun dealer and officially take delivery of the gun. If you are unemployed, you could probably get that down to 45 days. Of course, I should point out that, before being handed the gun, I had to undergo the very same instant NICS check that is sufficient for most other American citizens. So, having to wait 54 days to do what most any other citizen can accomplish in 15 minutes, what was I buying? Was I buying an 8 round semi-auto 12 gauge? No. Was I buying a Clinton tagged 'Assault Rifle'? No, the detachable magazine means Homeland Defense Rifles are banned in DC. Did I buy a .50BMG sniper rifle, of the type that has Senator Lautenbergs' panties in a bunch? No. My fellow enthusiasts: I went through bureaucratic hell, FBI fingerprinting, a full six week background investigation, and paid $72.60 in fees and other costs (plus gas and parking for all those trips to the registration office) to buy... drum roll please... a single shot hunting rifle.

Welcome to Washington DC, Capitol of the 'Free' World!

-- An Anonymous DC resident

Posted on 2005-03-19 14:19:18.0 by matthew@triggerfinger.org

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DC Metropolitan area (MD & VA) dealers are sympathetic and cooperative.

While the specific dealer from whom I bought the gun is not important,
('Anonymous', remember...)
I would point out that, in my experience, gun dealers tend to be a good,
law abiding group of people (their livelihood depends on it) and are happy
to complete any sale within the law. (Probably didn't hurt that I paid retail.)
As for their attitudes (I visited several): The typical first response
is "Why the hell would you want to live in DC" [That's for another blog :)],
followed closely by "You poor, defenseless bastard!" and then some variation
of: "DC is run by a bunch of [expletive deleted] morons". At which point,
I agree, we both laugh, and then they say "How can I help you." (A sale is a
sale after all)
Those gun dealers in VA & MD close-in to DC (there's at least a dozen) tend
to be familiar with the process if perhaps not intimately familiar with the
process. The farther from DC you go, the less likely that they'll be familiar
with the DC form. The buyer supplies the PD219 form (at least in my experience).
There's a lot of information (for the buyer to fill out) on the form, and it
makes sense to do it, and make sure it's correct, before you get to the dealer.
The fact that there are approximately 100,000 guns registered in
DC suggests that my experience is far
from unique. It should also raise serious questions as to why the process is
yet still the very antithesis of streamlined. You'd think they could get it
straight after nearly 100,000 tries, but as I said before: "Welcome to DC,
Bringing you 50 years of liberal policy failure!"
It was from a MD dealer that I learned of the un-official policy that DC
has of denying to register 'pistol grips' and semi-automatics with removeable
magazines. I later (sadly) confirmed this un-official policy in my
discussions with the male officer in the Gun Control Unit. I'd originally wanted
to buy a Ruger 10/22 and the dealer cautioned me that previous buyers had had
them rejected as 'machine guns' in the past.
As for the transaction: it is handled like any other perfectly legal,
out-of-state (even though DC isn't a state) long gun purchase. The dealer just
gives 'DC' for the state in the NCIS check, and fills out the standard ATF
'yellow' form. Then they put the gun in 'Layaway/Limbo' until you return
with the 'APPROVED' PD219. Again, it probably didn't hurt that I paid up-front,
in full. In the end, the dealer just stores the gun for 6 to 8 weeks. (Note: that
subsequent purchases _should_ go faster as the fingerprinting and background
check are not repeated - only the registration/approval process. I'll keep
triggerfinger informed as to how that goes when finances permit additional
purchases).
What happens to an already-paid-for gun if the registration is DENIED is
another question. I think that would require a very understanding dealer. I
didn't really worry about this possibility, because, bluntly, you'd have to go
to a convent to find someone with a cleaner record than me.
It is just one of the absurdities of DC law that you have to actually purchase
a gun before you can find out for certain if it is registerable. There is no
'approved' list. There is no comprehensive 'banned' list, although the DC code
does make references to 'StreetSweepers' and a few other mean looking guns. There
is no process for checking ahead of time - and the decidedly unscientific and
arbitrary process used to evaluate 'registerability' of a gun means that you can't
figure it out for yourself from the letter of the DC code.

Posted by Anonymous on 2005-03-22 19:20:46.0