In a surprising decision, a federal judge overturned Washington, D.C.’s open and concealed carry ban this past weekend. While the ruling has received some fanfare, few reports have paid attention to the section in the order that invalidated D.C.’s firearms residency requirements. Just lifting the ban would have affected the approximately 630,000 residents living within the District of Columbia, but the judge went a step further with his little noticed residency decree.  

Legal experts say this is the first time a judge has ruled on—or even been presented with in this manner—the hot-button firearms issues of residency and reciprocity. The judge determined that non-residents cannot be barred from carrying handguns in D.C. simply because they do not live there. This establishes an uncharted precedent that has the potential to affect gun laws across the country. In the interim, it has already made huge waves inside our nation’s capital.