View source for Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975

The '''Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975''' was passed by the [[District of Columbia]] [[Council of the District of Columbia|city council]] on June 29, 1976,<ref>"Gun Control Bill In Washington, D.C.", ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'', June 30, 1976, p. 2D</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://tomdavis.house.gov/cgi-data/news/files/191.shtml |title=Government Reform to Review D.C. s Handgun Ban |publisher=Congressman [[Thomas M. Davis|Tom Davis]] |access-date=2007-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228194658/http://tomdavis.house.gov/cgi-data/news/files/191.shtml |archive-date=2007-02-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and went into effect September 24, 1976.<ref>"Washington Gets Tough Gun Law", ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'', September 24, 1976, p. 16A</ref> The law banned residents from owning [[handgun]]s, [[automatic firearm]]s, or high-capacity [[semi-automatic firearm]]s, as well as prohibited possession of unregistered [[firearm]]s. Exceptions to the ban were allowed for [[police officer]]s and guns registered before 1976. The law also required firearms kept in the home to be "unloaded, disassembled, or bound by a [[trigger lock]] or similar device";<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/fact-sheets/2007/the-case-for-reforming-the-district-of.aspx?s=washington+dc&st=&ps= |title=The Case For Reforming The District of Columbia's Gun Laws |publisher=National Rifle Association}}</ref> this was deemed to be a prohibition on the use of firearms for self-defense in the home.<ref name=dc-circuit-opinion>
{{cite web
|url= http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200703/04-7041a.pdf
|title= Case No. 04-7041, Parker v. D.C.
|accessdate= 2008-02-12
|author= Senior Circuit Judge Silberman
|authorlink=
|date= 2007-03-09
|publisher= United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
|pages= 58
|quote= Section 7-2507.02, like the bar on carrying a pistol within the home, amounts to a complete prohibition on the lawful use of handguns for self-defense.}}</ref> On June 26, 2008, in the historic case of ''[[District of Columbia v. Heller]]'', the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] determined that the ban and trigger lock provisions violate the [[Second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Second Amendment]].
== Constitutionality ==
[[Washington, D.C.]]'s gun laws are considered by many to be the strictest in the United States, and have been challenged as infringing on [[constitutionality|constitutional]] rights protected by the [[United States Constitution]]'s [[Second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Second Amendment]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Kates, Jr. Don B. |title=Handgun Prohibition and the Original Meaning of the Second Amendment |journal=Michigan Law Review |volume=204 |year=1983}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Reynolds, Glenn Harlan |title=A Critical Guide to the Second Amendment |journal=Tennessee Law Review |volume=461 |year=1995}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Hirschman, Albert O. |title=The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy |url=https://archive.org/details/rhetoricofreacti0000hirs |url-access=registration |year=1991|publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-76867-3 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Polsby, Daniel P. |title=The False Promise of Gun Control |publisher=Atlantic Monthly |date=March 1994}}</ref> On March 9, 2007, portions of the law were declared unconstitutional by a three-judge panel of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit]], in a 2-1 ruling in the case [[District of Columbia v. Heller]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/09/AR2007030901090.html |title=Appeals Court Guts D.C. Gun Ban |author=Miller, Bill and Robert Barnes |date=2007-03-09 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> After the District's application for a rehearing [[en banc]] was denied, it appealed the decision to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]. On June 26, 2008, the Court determined that the ban and trigger lock provision violate the Second Amendment.<ref>{{cite web | first= | last= | title=United States: Gun Ownership and the Supreme Court|  url =https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/y2008/06/26/AR2008062600615.html | work =Library of Congress | pages = | accessdate = 7 December 2015| language = }}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> However, the ruling does not prohibit all forms of [[gun politics|gun control]]; laws requiring firearm registration remain in place as does the city's [[assault weapon]] restriction.<ref>{{cite news|first=David |last=Nakamura |title=D.C. Attorney General: All Guns Must Be Registered |date=2008-06-26 |url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/dc/2008/06/dc_attorney_general_all_guns_m.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |accessdate=2008-06-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011085230/http://blog.washingtonpost.com/dc/2008/06/dc_attorney_general_all_guns_m.html |archivedate=2008-10-11 }}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Crime in Washington, D.C.]]
* [[District of Columbia home rule]]
* ''[[District of Columbia v. Heller]]''
* [[Gun politics in the United States]]
* [[Warren v. District of Columbia]]
==External links==
*[https://archive.org/stream/firearmscontrol00colugoog/firearmscontrol00colugoog_djvu.txt Text of the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975]
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
[[Category:History of Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:United States firearms law]]