After months of aggravation, hundreds of dollars in fees, countless hours jumping over hurdles, I am now a gun owner and finally exercising my second amendment right to keep arms (bearing arms is still illegal in the nation’s capital).
Great opening, Emily, and we need to point that out. The constitution say we have the right to Keep AND Bear arms. You aren’t doing much “bearing” if you can only carry your gun around in a locked box unloaded and useless. You’re just “Keeping”.
The bad guys buy guns off the street in five minutes, and the city has no record of the transaction. Law-abiding citizens have to take a five-hour class that is only taught outside of the District, pay $465 in fees, sign six forms, pass a written test on gun laws, get fingerprinted, be subject to a police ballistics test and take days off work.
Now note that Emily is a Journalist so she’s selling her story to her employers so she’s not necessarily “Taking time off work” to jump through all the pointless and miserable hoops. I’ll also note from my own experiences playing a similar, but less arduous game here in Massachusetts you sometimes find yourself opposite an armed and uniformed police officer asking questions about exercising a right they may not support! That can be VERY intimidating, and I know people who have discontinued the licensing process when they came face-to-face with a gruff cop not interested in helping a “Civilian” get a gun permit he doesn’t think they should have. (I will also note I have had some GREAT experiences as well, its not all bad, but it IS all unnecessary) This is NOT an easy, or an enjoyable process. Going to a gun shop and looking at guns you might want to buy is fun, talking to a cop about what paperwork you need to fill out, and engaging in activities generally associated with criminals, like being photographed, fingerprinted, and having your private property handled and inspected.
I signed the expiration date form, then I waited about 15 minutes. Officer Brown came back to the desk with the application, with the top white sheet ripped off and my photo stapled to the yellow copy. “Is this my certificate?” I asked. “Do I have to carry all these papers with my gun?”
Officer Harper answered. “Just this top sheet. But if you want to add photos to the other pink sheets, you can use that too.” I thought, this flimsy piece of paper is ridiculous. It should be a laminated card that can go in your wallet.
Another classy move. When I lived in Medford Mass there was an Electronic LTC available, but Medford wanted to issue the old laminated cards. If you’ve ever waited table or done other jobs where you get tips, you know what feeling of having $50-60 in singles in your wallet? Well this massive hard-plastic card that would only fit in my billfold made my wallet always feel like that.
Then Officer Harper took my gun and put it in a black envelope. “What exactly do you do with it now?” I asked.
“We take a photo of it. Then we shoot two rounds and keep those as like “fingerprints” for the gun,” he said. I’d heard from a D.C. gun owners that he believes his pistol was shot up to 50 rounds during the test. And another resident thought the police broke his gun. None of these people have filed a report, so I was interested in following up on the rumor.
Photo of the gun? Really? What if Emily has it refinished or embellished? What if she swaps the grips? Decides to powder-coat the Stainless slide? And of course that “Ballistic Fingerprints” crap is an anti-rights sham that just wastes money.
True to his word, Officer Harper was back in a short time with my gun. I reached out to check it before leaving, and Officer Brown startled.
“Not out here, you can’t. Come to the back of the office,” she said leading me about 30 feet away from the door. I can understand this precaution. If I was walking by a D.C. government office and saw someone pull out a full-sized 9mm and rack a gun, I’d probably scream.
In the back, there was this metal container at a 45 degree angle to the floor and about knee high. She told me to hold the gun inside the metal thing and then rack it. I did and the gun looked fine.
BTW Emily knew nothing about guns when she started this, she’s a much better study than any of the opponents who still misuse the word “Clip”, and know nothing about gun safety.
Well she got the gun home, but she’s still keeping up the fight. Its true, when somebody makes something that SHOULD be simple unnecessarily complicated and stupid, the end result is often an activist.
I’m glad she’s on our side, and I hope she has a great time with her new Sig!
