D.C. only plans to allow revolvers

Under D.C. law, a semiauto pistol is considered a "machine gun". D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty has stated that "[a]utomatic and semiautomatic handguns generally remain illegal in the District of Columbia with this [Heller] ruling[.]"

D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson, who sponsored a bill last week to address the court's decision, told FOXNews.com he's willing to consider the fate of semiautomatic handguns, but he doesn't think it needs to be addressed immediately. His bill would not change the semiautomatic weapons law.

He said the first thing the council will need to do is address the court's ruling that D.C.'s law must include a self-defense provision.

"I think we should look at the definition of semiautomatics in relation to what's prohibited, but I'm seeing a short-term and a long-term approach. .... And in the short term, I don't think we need to address it," Mendelson said.

At the moment, neither the mayor's nor the council's efforts appear aimed at changing the city's ban on semiautomatic guns.
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According to ATF, 73 percent — or more than 1 million guns sold in the U.S. in 2006 — were semiautomatic pistols. National Rifle Association spokeswoman Rachel Parsons said if city officials try to keep semiautomatics outlawed, they can expect to hear from her organization.

"The NRA is going to ensure that D.C. actually complies with its own laws and with the Supreme Court's decisions," she said.

According to Parsons, D.C. code already has an allowance for some semiautomatic handguns — pistols with a magazine holding fewer than 12 live rounds were grandfathered under the now-overturned 1976 ban.

"They are falsely claiming that all semiautomatic handguns are banned," Parsons said. She said the NRA will wait until the city sets its new rules to decide how to respond.

The District interprets its prohibition to encompass all semiautomatic handguns. Alan Gura, one of the lawyers who represented D.C. residents seeking gun rights in District of Columbia v. Heller, said one line of D.C. code basically renders semiautomatic handguns as a machine gun, which would still be illegal.

Current city law defines a "machine gun" to mean "any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily converted or restored to shoot: a) Automatically, more than one shot by a single function of the trigger; b) Semiautomatically, more than 12 shots without manual reloading."
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Mendelson said he does have a limit to what he thinks is safe.

"I think an individual possessing a handgun that can fire 18 rounds — that is loaded and can fire 18 rounds semiautomatically — is a problem for public safety in the District," Mendelson said. "I don't know what the correct number is, but something less (than 18 shots)."

Peter Nickles, interim attorney general for the city, said it remains to be seen whether the city will include any updates on semiautomatics as part of its rules changes. Currently, the city is trying to balance a number of issues, including meeting the court's ruling and avoiding further legal challenges.

Read the article here. I'm not at all surprised that D.C. will continue to make it hard for its law-abiding residents to protect themselves, even after the city's loss at the Supreme Court. I suspect the courts will need to administer many more cans of whup-ass to D.C. politicians to drag them into compliance with the Constitution.