How to prove a ‘special’ danger to get a gun carry permit in DC

My Fox DC – by Emily Miller

WASHINGTON – When I was last at the D.C. police headquarters, they explained to me that I can’t apply for a gun carry permit just because I need to defend myself in a city with high crime. I had to prove a “special” danger, according to the new law. So that’s what I set out to do.

All Americans –- not just Washingtonians — can apply for a D.C. permit to carry a concealed handgun. But you have to prove you have specific threats against you or previous attacks. So far, the police have only gotten 47 permit applications. Police Chief Cathy Lanier has approved only two of those people to legally carry a gun.  

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The nation’s capital was the only place in the country that did not allow for any firearms to be legally taken out of the home. But during the summer, a federal court struck down the law as unconstitutional. Since then, the city council wrote a permit law, but it is almost impossible for most people to get a permit.

In the first part of the series, I went to the firearms registration office at the police department to get the application. But I could not submit the application at that time because the police had not yet certified any trainers to teach the 18 hours of mandatory classes.

But I kept calling the office, and one day they told me that I could apply if I checked a box to promise to take the classes within 45 days of being approved.

So I got to work on completing the application.

To fill out one part of the application — the basis for a good reason to fear injury — I had to go to a police station to pull my own reports.

I have evidence of three sources of special danger. One was an anonymous phone threat. The second was a scary letter from someone else. I went to the First District Police Station near Capitol Hill. Aaron Willis helpfully pulled those reports for me.

My third “special” danger was my biggest fear. The FBI notified all media outlets in late October that there was a specific threat from a terrorist group against American reporters. I included the FBI alert in my application packet.

Next, I had to write a personal statement to Police Chief Cathy Lanier describing my “special” dangers. It was about one page.

Then I went through the 20 questions about eligibility on the application. Most things are the same as federal law on gun ownership — you can’t possess a gun if you are a felon, drug addict, dangerously mentally ill, dishonorable discharged from the military, subject of protective order or domestic abuser.

Some of the items that make you ineligible for a permit are unique to D.C., such as physical defect makes it unsafe to use gun, legally blind, negligent in gun mishap that injured someone or more than two DUIs in the last five years.

Finally I was ready to go back to police headquarters. I took my completed application, documentation of my “special” dangers, two forms of identification and my firearms registration card.

We can’t show you on television what happened inside the registry office because Police Chief Lanier created a brand new policy a couple weeks ago saying no more cameras in the registration office.

So what you couldn’t see while I was inside the police department is the staff at the registry office went through a 13-point checklist to make sure I completed all the steps. I didn’t have to get fingerprinted because I had done that to register my gun.

Then I paid $75. The fee is non-refundable whether or not your permit is approved.

I asked the officer what would happen next. He said, now, you wait. Chief Lanier has 90 days to decide whether or not I get a gun carry permit.

Meanwhile, Washington’s whole new licensing scheme is being challenged in federal court. The group who sued the city to get the right to carry has asked that the city be held in contempt of court for writing a law they believe is still unconstitutional.

The city responded last week that the new law adhered to the ruling and is “compliant with the Second Amendment.” Judge Frederick Scullin will decide on that matter soon.

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/27600498/how-to-prove-a-special-danger-to-get-a-gun-carry-permit-in-dc