Foreword
In 1976, the District of Columbia City Council passed one ofthe Nation’s toughest gun control laws, which included a ban on all handgunsexcept for those previously registered in the city or in the possession ofactive or retired law enforcement personnel. Althoughthe effectiveness of the law has been called into question — violent crimerates in the District have fluctuated and remain high, and legal handguns havebeen readily available in nearby States such as Virginia — the ban remained ineffect for decades without legal challenge and with limited call for its repealby District residents. In 2003,however, six residents of the…
