DC to Require Disassembly of Cars When Not in Use

Take this from one of Washington, DC's idiotic politicians:

If approved, Mendelson’s bill would allow residents to register handguns but it would still require them to keep the weapons unloaded and disassembled, or sealed off with trigger locks. It would allow citizens to reassemble the guns for “immediate self-defense.” - DC Examiner

Now compare that statement with what Mr. Mendelson writes on his own website:

Phil believes government should be an honest, efficient deliverer of services, that the District should help those least able to help themselves to develop the skills to become self-sufficient and end the cycle of poverty, and that government must do this without increasing the tax burdens already shouldered by our middle and upper income residents. The District, as the nation's capital, should be a model of service delivery -- in public education, public safety, and public health. - Phil Mendelson

What BS. They might as well decree that all DC car owners disassemble their cars when not in use, because cars kill people too. (As a side benefit, they can claim that this new car law will cut down on car thefts.)  As it so happens, a version of the gun bill was passed requiring gun owners to keep their weapons unloaded and disassembled, or sealed off with trigger locks

So, why don't gun owners just disassemble their guns? Well they do, to clean them. So most gun owners in the country are at least temporarily in compliance with the DC law, but definitely not by choice. Here is what my 1911-A1 looks like disassembled.  No person in their right mind keeps their gun like this, unless perhaps when there is some special reason to do so, like they are waiting for a replacement part or they are using the pistol for parts for other handguns.  How would you like to put this together in the middle of the night for “immediate self-defense.”?

Here it is partly reassembled, but still not in any way you'd want to keep a weapon unless you were afraid that the owner might go and try to shoot a criminal with it.

In this last photo, the spring here just needs to be pushed in and locked.  But there is no way I'm keeping my gun stored like this.  Oddly enough, this is probably in violation of the law because it is possible to fire the gun this way, at least once.

Since I live in Virginia, I'm more likely to keep it like this on a shelf. (The bag being zipped shut)

Good thing too that I live in Virginia as DC seems to dislike semi-automatics regardless of being disassembled or not, so I would only be able to keep my .45 if I had owned it already illegally, or so we are led to believe.

However, my Iver Johnson .22 cal. M1 Carbine would be legal in DC, again provided that it is disassembled. But look at the number of loose parts for this rifle when taken down for cleaning:

There is nothing 'immediate' when it comes to putting this rifle back together.

While it appears disassembled in this photo, it will function as long as you keep your hand out of the way of the slide mechanism.  But that probably puts it in violation of minimum length rules, so be sure to attach the stock before shooting any criminals with it.  Better yet, just take the stock and club your intruder with it, because you are not going to have the time to do anything else.

This public service message brought to you by the District of Columbia, the nation's capital, "a model of service delivery -- in public education, public safety, and public health"

P.S. I do read the Examiner prior to using it for cleaning my guns.



DC Councilmember Phil Mendelson

Update:

There is just one other small problem:

The only time that a gun can be unlocked is when it being used for self-defense against an immediate attack; accordingly, it is illegal to remove the lock from an unloaded gun in order to clean the gun. - The Volokh Conspiracy

When will the craziness stop?

**********