How a ‘baffling’ backdoor D.C. gun ban thwarts concealed-carry permit holders – By Stephen Dinan (washingtontimes.com) / Oct 11 2017
It’s about to become easier for D.C. residents to obtain concealed-carry firearms permits — but researchers said Washingtonians will still have to face a set of city laws so complex and muddled that it may mean there is hardly any place they can safely carry their weapons.
The city’s “gun-free zones” law places restrictions on carrying firearms within 1,000 feet of a school, college, day care center, playground, library, public housing complex and other public gathering spots.
The list is so broad that nearly every city block would qualify as a gun-free zone, said John R. Lott Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, who released a map Tuesday showing the parts of the city he said would clearly be affected by the 1,000-foot restriction.
“They’re just making it so it’s actually impossible for somebody to legally carry in the District of Columbia,” Mr. Lott said. “My own guess is they probably did it on purpose. I can’t get into people’s minds to know, but there’s no other law that’s drafted anywhere near similar to what’s in here.”
The Metropolitan Police Department gave a different interpretation of the law, saying the gun-free zones apply only to those carrying firearms illegally and that the penalty amounts to boosting prison time when other offenses have been committed.
Still, legal analysts said they would be cautious given the “bafflingly drafted” ordinance.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/oct/10/dc-gun-laws-block-concealed-carry-legal-zones/
PB/TK – Basically you couldn’t even legally carry a concealed weapon inside your home in the DC area, but there might be one corner on the outskirts of town where all concealed permit holders could gather…. No wait, that might be considered a “public gathering place”
