Back in March, President Trump launched the Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, and one of the items on the task force’s to-do list included “collaborating with appropriate local government entities to provide assistance to increase the speed and lower the cost of processing concealed carry license requests in the District of Columbia.”
While we haven’t seen the District take any steps to reduce the fees associated with applying for a carry license, the White House tells Fox News reporter Emma Colton that the group has been successful in reducing the lengthy wait times for concealed carry applicants.
Under the task force’s efforts, locals are able to book next-day appointments to register their firearms with the Metropolitan Police Department, while walk-in appointments are now available and advertised on the police department’s website.
Previously, applicants typically waited four months for a firearms registration appointment, a White House official told Fox Digital.
The task force says it’s now taking an average of 4.6 days for someone to receive a carry permit, which is a huge improvement from just a few months ago… as well as a pretty good indication that the MPD was slow-walking the process until the task force got involved. It’s not like the task force has given any additional money to the department to hire staff to process applications or to streamline the process. These are all internal reforms that likely could have been implemented at any time if there was the desire or will to do so, but it took the Trump administration’s involvement to get them in place.
According to Colton, the task force’s next steps might be more of a challenge, since they’ll require sign off and cooperation from the D.C. City Council.
The working group established by the executive order is exploring options to broaden firearm access in the city, such as permitting female concealed carry holders to carry firearms in their handbags as opposed to rules requiring firearms be strapped to a person’s body, Fox Digital learned.
The working group is also looking at options that would permit concealed carry on public transit, and to kick off reciprocity for concealed carry permits from other states, but such changes would require the D.C. City Council approval.
Each of those changes would be major improvements to the status quo, though I wonder if the District could have gender-specific rules for carrying. If a woman can leave her gun in her handbag, why shouldn’t a man be able to have his gun in a briefcase or backpack?
The District’s ban on lawful carry on public transportation is the subject of ongoing litigation, but I’d be perfectly happy to see that lawsuit mooted if D.C. allowed lawful concealed carry on Metro buses and trains. Similarly, the District’s lack of reciprocity is the subject of a rider in an appropriations bill, but if the D.C. City Council wants to preempt Congress on the issue I have no objections… so long as its real reciprocity and not some half-measure that limits recognition only to a handful of states with draconian licensing standards.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that the City Council will go along with these plans, but with President Trump looking to flex the federal government’s muscle in terms of governing the District council members should consider the ramifications of blocking these moves to make our nation’s capital more respectful of our Second Amendment rights. There are already a growing number of voices calling for an end to D.C.’s home rule powers, and the local government’s refusal to recognize our fundamental right to keep and bear arms is just one more argument in favor of Congress, and not the D.C. City Council, setting the laws for the District of Columbia.
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