Police in D.C. are no longer enforcing the city’s handgun ban

Police officers in Washington DC have been instructed not to enforce the city’s ban on carrying handguns outside the house following US District Judge Frederick J Scullin’s ruling that the ban was unconstitutional. The attorney general of the city is expected to request a stay of the ruling until such a time as the city decides whether or not to appeal, according to reports on Sunday.

Washington DC’s metropolitan police department has chosen to interpret this ruling to mean that the ban is no longer in effect, and therefore, city residents who own properly registered handguns are permitted to carry their firearms outside of their homes. However, rules that prevent convicted felons from carrying firearms are still in effect.

“If you are a DC resident, of course your gun must be registered, you cannot just walk around with an unregistered weapon,” said Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson, Iftmania Bonilla.

The ruling has come as a result of a lawsuit filed by the Second Amendment Foundation and Tom G. Palmer back in 2009. Alan Gura, an attorney for the group, claims that the ban has been invalidated by the ruling and that residents of the city with properly registered handguns should be able to carry them outside of their home, effective immediately. He also claims that the measure will improve public safety.

“We won,” Gura told Fox News. “I’m very pleased with the decision that the city can’t forbid the exercise of a fundamental constitutional right.” The city is expected to appeal. Gura said, “We’ll be happy to keep the fight going.”

The district has been the sight of an ongoing fight over gun laws for years, this recent ruling is simply the most recent. Back in 2008, in a landmark decision, the US Supreme Court decided to strike down the cities 32-year-old ban on handguns. Ever since the city has had numerous revision of its laws, even more lawsuits, and Congress has even joined in on the action.

“There is no longer any basis on which this court can conclude that the District of Columbia’s total ban on the public carrying of ready-to-use handguns outside the home is constitutional under any level of scrutiny,” wrote Scullin, who was appointed by President George HW Bush and is a retired army colonel.

Read more about the story at the Washington Post.