BELLEVUE, Wash., July 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New rules instituted as
part of an emergency ordinance by the District of Columbia City Council appear
to "fly in the face" of the Supreme Court's Heller ruling, and may also
violate the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Citizens Committee for the
Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.
A section of the new ordinance requires that "Each registrant shall keep any
firearm in his or her possession unloaded and either disassembled or secured
by a trigger lock, gun safe, or similar device." The rule does not apply to
police officers, guns kept in a place of business rather than the home, or "a
firearm while it is being used to protect against a reasonably perceived
threat of immediate harm to a person within the registrant's home." There are
also exemptions for guns used outside of the home for "lawful recreational
purposes" or guns being transported for "a lawful purpose."
"This appears to be in direct contradiction to the Supreme Court's majority
ruling in the District of Columbia v. Heller case," said CCRKBA Legislative
Director Joe Waldron. "The court struck down the city's trigger lock
requirement, and ruled that it is unconstitutional to require that firearms be
rendered inoperable at all times in the home."
Another alarming requirement, Waldron said, is the rule that people
registering handguns "Not appear to suffer from a physical defect which would
make it unsafe for him to possess and use a firearm safely and responsibly."
"I am wondering," Waldron observed, "if the persons who dreamed up these
outrageous guidelines ever heard of the Americans With Disabilities Act. In
their attempt to make owning handguns as difficult and discouraging as
possible for residents of the District, the people responsible for this
regulation have just insulted millions of disabled Americans, including
disabled veterans, who are perfectly capable of owning and using firearms.
These people are not subject to the discriminatory whims of some bureaucrat as
to their abilities.
"The city just lost a landmark ruling before the Supreme Court," Waldron
stated, "and already they're trying to poke that court in the eye. That isn't
only arrogant, it's foolhardy. Apparently the city can't wait to find itself
back in court."
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens
Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the
nation's premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the
Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active
lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun
rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.
SOURCE Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Alan Gottlieb of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms,
+1-425-454-4911
