Not So Fast! Sizing up the Heller Ruling’s Immediate Effect on D.C.

[WSJ_law_blog]

So after leafing through the majority opinion in D.C. v. Heller– and all of its originalist-inflected talk of prefatory clauses and operative clauses — we were struck with a thought: what happens now? Could we — or one of our colleagues in our nation’s capital — go to the local corner store and pick up, say, a Nighthawk Custom 10-8 along with our morning coffee and Washington Post?

To get an answer, we checked in with Gary Fields, the Journal’s D.C.-based criminal justice reporter.

Hi Gary, thanks for taking the time. So, we’ll ask you the question, what happens now in D.C.?

No problem. Well, for now, the District goes back to the law that existed prior to 1976. Back in those days, people could get handguns, subject to certain restrictions. There were, for instance, restrictions on the use of ammunition, and gun owners had to register their firearms.

Makes sense. So will we see a real uptick in firearms purchases in D.C.?

Actually, I doubt it, at least initially. Right now, the city has no federally licensed gun dealers at all, which is largely the result of the ban and very stringent zoning laws, which severely restrict where explosive devices can be sold. Thing is, the powers that be in the District — the mayor, the city council, the police — are still very against the sale of guns, so my guess is they’re going to do everything in their power to restrict it. At this point, I bet they use the zoning laws to keep the stores out.

Is such a strategy legal?

Well, I’m sure it’ll get challenged in court.

Won’t there be a huge demand among local entrepreneurs to open stores?

I’m really not so sure. Thing is, the eastern quadrant of the city is going through this renaissance in violence. If you’re a gun dealer looking for a place to break into D.C., do you want to take on the liability of opening a store in a crime-ridden area where the likelihood exists that you’ll be robbed and, in any event, you’ll have to run extremely tough background checks? Or, on the other hand, do you try to go to a more affluent part of the city where you’re going to get fought tooth and nail on zoning ordinances?

What about neighboring states like Virginia and Maryland? Won’t D.C. residents just drive out there, buy their guns, and bring them back?

No, because transporting firearms across state lines violates federal law. To legally obtain a gun, someone from the District would have to drive to a store in Virginia or Maryland, which, after doing the requisite background check, would have to ship the gun to a federally licensed store in D.C. And so long as no stores exist in D.C., of course, that’s not going to happen.

Sounds like the practical effect of the ruling today — at least in the District — will be minimal, at least for a while.

That’s right. The practical implications aren’t going to take hold right away. Even if it was something I really really wanted to do, if I was really hankering to have a firearm, it would be no easier today than it was yesterday.

Very interesting. Thanks much for taking the time.

You bet.