On Thursday, a federal judge has ruled to uphold the registration requirements, which are part of the gun laws in the nations, capital. This means that the measures require a gun owner to take a class on gun safety and gets photographed and fingerprinted. The requirements will also have gun owners re-register their firearms every three years.
The Associated Press said the requirements were put in place in the city following a Supreme Court decision in 2008, which ended the handgun ban in the District of Columbia after 32 years. According to US District Court Judge James Boasberg, the requirements that were placed in the city are constitutional.
This is not the first time a judge has approved the controversial requirements. In 2010, a judge upheld them after a group pf residents challenged them. After a year, an appeals court had uphold a city ban on assault weapons but asked the District that it needs to expound further on the necessity of such requirements. Boasberg said in his 62-page ruling on Thursday that he has accepted the city's reasoning regarding the necessity of such requirements.
Boasberg said, The District of Columbia knows gun violence," and citing high-profile gun crimes in recent years, including a gunman's fatal shooting of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard last year. Boasberg said the city has enacted some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation in "an effort to stem this violence and promote public safety. The people of this city, acting through their elected representatives, have sought to combat gun violence and promote public safety. The Court finds that they have done so in a constitutionally permissible manner."
Stephen Halbrook, who represented the plaintiffs, expressed his disappointment over Boasberg's ruling, and is expected to appeal the ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
DC Mayor Vincent Gray said about Thursday's decision on the requirements, "(Boasberg's ruling an) important win for public safety (in the city). I appreciate the court's affirmation of our sensible gun control laws and urge other jurisdictions to follow our lead."
