Critics take aim at new D.C. handgun legislation

Published July 10, 2011 4:00am ET



D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson released the text of his emergency legislation to make the District a federal firearms licensee, able to sell and transfer guns to citizens. The resolution calls on Mayor Vince Gray to appoint an agency to act as the FFL for the city, which currently has none and therefore no way to legally transfer handguns into the city since proprietor Charles Sykes closed the sole gun shop in D.C. in April.

Federal and district laws require handguns crossing the D.C. border to be shipped to an FFL before the owner can take possession of them. But critics say Mendelson’s new measure won’t do anything to get D.C. out of a lawsuit that’s about to get pricey, and won’t do anything to change the strict zoning rules that are keeping Sykes from reopening in the first place.

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