D.C. Mayor Vince Gray’s administration is asking for a zoning change that would allow a gun dealer to set up shop in police headquarters and other police facilities. Zoning rules and a small gun market have left the city without a licensed federal arms dealers since April, making it impossible for District residents to legally buy guns. Earlier this week, D.C. Councilman
Phil Mendelson chose not to introduce a bill he wrote that would have created a city agency to play the role of gun dealer, because Mendelson said the Gray administration was close to finding a solution for the city’s lone gun dealer. It appears the solution is to allow licensed dealers to sell their wares from inside police stations.
The measure proposed on Thursday by the Gray administration would add to city regulations an allowance for federally licensed gun dealers to open shop in “an establishment located at a District law enforcement … agency.”
Police Chief Cathy Lanier did not respond to request for comment.
In a statement attached to the new rule, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Paul Quander said the change is needed to ensure guns are available to D.C. residents.
“There is an immediate need to preserve the safety and welfare of District residents by providing access to a District owned or controlled location for the operation of [a federally licensed dealer], so that the District’s residents will have a reliable means to complete out of state handgun purchases and thereby register handguns for use in self-defense within their homes,” Quander wrote.
Federal law requires licensed dealers to play the role of middleman when guns need to cross state lines. Charles Sykes has been the only licensed gun dealer in the District since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the ban in 2008. But he closed down in April because of issues with his building and says the city’s zoning regulations have made it impossible to find a new home.
In May, D.C. resident Michelle Lane filed a lawsuit against the city saying the lack of licensed dealer violates her Second Amendment right to bear arms. She purchased two handguns in Lorton in April, but hasn’t been able to have them shipped to the District because there’s no licensed dealer to receive them.
Quander said despite the city’s efforts to open a gun shop in a government building, it’s still “strongly opposing the lawsuit.”
