OpenCarry.org comments provided to DC City Council Committee on Public Safety

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UPDATE: Hearing video at http://octt.dc.gov/services/on_demand_video/channel13/July2008/07_02_08_JUDICI_2.asx.

Jim Kadison, VCDL.org Board member comments at time hack 14:00.

Mike Stollenwerk, co-founder of OpenCarry.org at time hack 1:34:00.

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The purpose of the hearing was to take public input on what DC should do to comply with the Heller ruling. See attached powerpoint submitted to the Committee along with by oral testimoney.

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jul/03/prospects-for-emergency-gun-bill-uncertain

Prospects for emergency gun bill uncertain
David C. Lipscomb THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Thursday, July 3, 2008

The chairman of the D.C. Council's public safety committee said Wednesday he is still uncertain whether to address the District's ban on handguns with emergency legislation, despite growing pressure from groups on both sides of the issue.

Council member Phil Mendelson, at-large Democrat, said D.C. Interim Attorney General Peter J. Nickles has yet to say what he thinks the city should do regarding the Supreme Court decision last week that the District's 32-year-old handgun ban is unconstitutional.

"I think it's clear that there are some short-term fixes that we can pursue," Mr. Mendelson said Wednesday after a public safety committee hearing. "It's not clear, however, whether we would need to act on an emergency basis and it didn't help that the executive wasn't willing to share that information with the public today."

Mr. Mendelson introduced a bare-bones bill Tuesday that would allow residents to register handguns and remove home storage provisions that require guns to be disassembled or have trigger locks, the two main issues affected by the ruling.

Mr. Nickles on Monday sent a letter to Mr. Mendelson, asking that the council not take action regarding handgun regulations until Metropolitan Police Department draft legislation is submitted at a legislative hearing July 15.

Mr. Nickles also did not send a representative to the hearing Wednesday, during which the council heard public testimony on the matter for the first time since the ruling was made June 26.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Nickles did not respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.

Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, a Democrat, has said he may convene an emergency session to deal with gun legislation during the council's summer recess, which begins July 19. Otherwise, the council would not hear testimony on the bill until it reconvenes in September.

Spokeswoman Doxie McCoy said Mr. Gray will likely defer to Mr. Mendelson in making that decision, which makes open communication between the council and executive crucial as residents, community groups and interest groups press the council for emergency legislation.

Residents and groups in support of the gun ban have said its removal will lead to more crime and open the market for illegal guns on D.C. streets.

Ronald Moten, co-founder of the youth advocacy group Peaceoholics, testified before the council Wednesday that he hopes to see tough laws to regulate gun dealers in the District, including mandatory minimum sentences for illegal sales.

"I want emergency legislation on the books so they know D.C. is not going to play about this," Mr. Moten said during his impassioned testimony.

Pro-gun groups say the District's top priority should be complying with the ruling as soon as possible and removing the city's restriction on semiautomatic guns.

Mike Stollenwerk, co-founder of Opencarry.org, said he worries the District may be reluctant to change the law and do the minimum to comply with the ruling.

"In the short term, you should have emergency legislation to strike down the handgun ban," Mr. Stollenwerk said. "No. 2 they need to go into their basically bogus machine-gun statute and correct the definition so it doesn't include normal, garden variety, semiautomatic handguns."

Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief Peter J. Newsham said the department is looking at all of the issues that have surfaced as a result of the court's ruling and has not identified any single priority.

"We have to look at all the issues," Chief Newsham said. "When we issue our regulations, we want to be as comprehensive as we can."

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Look who infiltrates anti-gun panel!













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News in BriefIn Unanimous Vote,Washington DCPasses Bill to End its Handgun Ban
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CSGV in the NewsLadd Everitt interviewed on"Culture Shocks" about Heller decision
June26, 2008
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Josh Horwitz Testifies in Front of DC Council on Gun Law Reforms CSGV Executive Director Josh Horwitz testified in front of the DC Council on July 2, offering advice on how tocraft new gun laws to conform with the Heller decision by the Supreme Court.Josh advised the Council to focus on licensing, registration, and revising the trigger lock law to allow for self-defense in the home. He alsostressed the importance of creating a legislative record of this process. Toread more aboutthe fallout from Heller,click here. [NOTE: Cleanup batter on this panel was OCDO's Mike Stollenwerk ][/align]






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Mike, Nice Powerpoint.

One comment about your next-to-last slide - The All-American Handgun.

You have pictured a Beretta! Come on, now that's Italian!

I think the Colt .45 1911 is much more iconic.

Just my 2 fils. (A fil is 1/100th of a Kuwaiti dinar. 2 fils = 7.54 US cents)

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XD Owner wrote:

Mike, Nice Powerpoint.

One comment about your next-to-last slide - The All-American Handgun.

You have pictured a Beretta! Come on, now that's Italian!

I think the Colt .45 1911 is much more iconic.

Just my 2 fils. (A fil is 1/100th of a Kuwaiti dinar. 2 fils = 7.54 US cents)

Click to expand...

Well, good point, but the version I attached was an Army version made in the USA.

Also, besides the fact that I carry that gun , that pic expanded without distortion.

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Roger that. Continue the mission.

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Did you get to talk? Did they ask questons of you? What was your sense of their likely tactic?

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ilbob wrote:

Did you get to talk? Did they ask questons of you? What was your sense of their likely tactic?

Click to expand...

Uh, yes - I testified - anybody was welcome to do that - there is a link somewhere with a video of this. The Council is considering legislation to codify the result of Heller but they are not sure what Heller means re trigger locks and semi-autos.

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ilbob wrote:

Did you get to talk? Did they ask questons of you? What was your sense of their likely tactic?

Click to expand...

UPDATE: Hearing video at http://octt.dc.gov/services/on_demand_video/on_demand_june_2008_week_5.shtm


[font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]UPDATE: Hearing video at http://octt.dc.gov/services/on_demand_video/channel13/July2008/07_02_08_JUDICI_2.asx.

Jim Kadison, VCDL.org Board member comments at time hack 14:00.

Mike Stollenwerk, co-founder of OpenCarry.org at time hack 1:34:00.
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Mike made the Washington Post

Lots of Questions, Little Agreement at D.C. Hearing on Gun Laws --
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/02/AR2008070203417.html - video link embedded

By Nikita Stewart and Michael Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, July 3, 2008; Page B01 A

D.C. Council hearing on the Supreme Court's historic rejection of the 32-year-old District handgun ban drew relatively few witnesses yesterday but generated plenty of questions about what it means and how the city will comply with it.

How does a trigger lock work? Does it take three seconds to prepare a gun to fire or 30 minutes? And what is the definition of "immediate self-defense"?

The high court ruled, 5 to 4, that requiring gun owners to keep their weapons unloaded and disassembled or disabled by a trigger lock violates the Second Amendment because a firearm is not at the ready for immediate self-defense.

Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) has proposed legislation that would essentially keep the D.C. law but insert a broad "exception" for gun owners who keep their firearms at home for "immediate self-defense." It also would repeal the handgun ban.

The council probably will not vote on the bill until fall, Mendelson said. But Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) is expected to offer an emergency measure July 15, at the last legislative meeting before the council's summer recess, that would put the city in compliance.

But some witnesses said yesterday that the city would still be violating the Constitution if it implemented the "exception" and kept a ban on semiautomatic weapons. Other witnesses disagreed.

It was a relatively short four-hour hearing, with about 20 witnesses and a sparse audience, given the issues of gun control and gun violence in the District and the national debate prompted by last week's ruling.

Ricardo Royal, a firearms educator from Edgewater, offered to train council members in handling a gun so they would have firsthand knowledge about it, an offer declined in the past.

"I am here as Ricardo, the gun-safety man," he told the three members at the Public Safety and Judiciary Committee hearing. "A training program that includes mandatory handling exercises and a section on the specifics of the D.C. law would be a good start."

When questioned by council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), he recommended 10 hours of training.

Cheh asked whether there were "trigger locks that can be disengaged in three seconds." Royal and other gun rights witnesses said that would be impossible.

Police Lt. Jon Shelton testified that lawyer Walter E. Dellinger III, who argued the city's case before the Supreme Court, was provided a trigger lock with a number code. "He was able to pull it off in a matter of a second or two," Shelton said.

Shelton testified alongside Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham, who stepped in for Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier, who was attending the wake of a Prince George's County officer. Newsham said the D.C. police department is drafting emergency regulations to address specifics about the registration of handguns, including an amnesty program for current owners of illegal handguns.

Mendelson had been upset about the absence of anyone from the city attorney general's office at the meeting. Interim Attorney General Peter Nickles sent Mendelson a letter requesting that the council delay action until the administration can draft regulations and legislation to be considered at the July 15 session.

The most fiery speeches came from two District residents on opposite sides: community activist Absalom Jordan, a member of the National Rifle Association, and Ronald L. Moten, an ex-offender and co-founder of the anti-violence group Peaceoholics.

Moten recalled getting guns from Virginia and Maryland as a youth and urged the council to institute a 20-year sentence for dealers who sell firearms to minors. He also said semiautomatic weapons should remain banned.

Jordan said, "I've waited 32 years for my constitutional rights to be validated."
He said he worked as a council aide in the 1970s and wrote gun registration legislation that was never put on the table. "He threw it out the window," Jordan said, referring to then-council Chairman David A. Clarke, who shepherded the city's law.

Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, also included Clarke in his testimony, saying he was probably "looking down on us with a very sad face today."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/07/03/PH2008070300092.html

Ronald L. Moten, left, a co-founder of Peaceoholics, said the District should institute a 20-year sentence for dealers who sell guns to minors. Mike Stollenwerk, co-founder of OpenCarry.org, spoke for gun rights advocates.

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I was just wondering, what firearms do the DC police carry?

Do they have trigger locks on them?

Ken

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New avatar!

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dougwg wrote:

New avatar!

Click to expand...

hey! That's not you, that's proprietary, my likeness, ah, my right to publicity, I'm suing for, a, well, sheesh, i just wish I knew how to make an avatar or knew what one was before today!

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CowboyKen wrote:

I was just wondering, what firearms do the DC police carry?

Do they have trigger locks on them?

Ken

Click to expand...

The standardfor theMPDC is the Block.

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Don't you just want to rip all the releases from DC Officials apart?

"Newsham said the D.C. police department is drafting emergency regulations to address specifics about the registration of handguns, including an amnesty program for current owners of illegal handguns."

The handguns were not illegal, your law denying ownership of thegun was illegal.

"Police Lt. Jon Shelton testified that lawyer Walter E. Dellinger III, who argued the city's case before the Supreme Court, was provided a trigger lock with a number code. "He was able to pull it off in a matter of a second or two," Shelton said."

Give him the same trigger lock and let someone break into his home in the middle of the night and rush him or his family. Lets see how fast he gets the lock off under stress.

Thanks for everything Mike.

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Loss of power promotes desperation.