While I would like to believe that the Supreme Court or a lower federal court having jurisidiction over the District would hold the Mayor and Police Commissioner in contempt for playing these games it won't happen. And more to the point everyone here knows it isn't going to happen. This kind of nonsense has been going on for decades across the country particularly in New York, California, Massachussetts, Washington D.C., Illinois and New Jersey. The Mayor is not going to be led out in handcuffs, the Police Commissioner is not going to be led out in handcuffs and no Police Officer who took part in actually violating the Supreme Court's order, either now or at some future date, is going to be led out in handcuffs.
Here is what will happen: every time a federal court tells D.C. that it has to do something the city government will move precisely one inch in that direction and then come to a dead stop. After stopping, city officials will then look for ways to make the process even more difficult, frustrating and unappealing so that no one wants to apply to possess a pistol or revolver and so that the vast majority of people who do actually apply are rejected or turned away. What D.C. will do, in all likelihood, is follow the New York City playbook and require very high fees to obtain the license, reject your application for minor paperwork errors, make the application process adversarial and finally require that you show up to the designated police location multiple times on short notice so that you have to choose between possessing a pistol or revolver and keeping your job.
The District knows that this machine gun nonsense will be thrown out at some point. Some point could be next month or two years from now and I personally think it will be the latter. Once that restriction is demolished, however, and you can own a semi-automatic pistol the District will think of three more things to harrass you with like requiring that you bring your weapon to Police Headquarters once a month to be inspected so as to prove that you didn't sell it illegally or have it stolen and not report it. After all, such a requirement isn't an absolute ban on handguns. The report date and time will be a work day during your shift so once again you'll have to choose between having a GP 100 in your nightstand and having food in your refridgerator.
All of this is an object lesson in why permits, licenses, registration lists and all the other nonsense put forward by gun control advocates and so-called moderate supporters of the Second Amendment are garbage. As long as you are required to ask permission to purchase, possess or utilize arms this will be the result whenever city officials choose to make it so. Even if the Supreme Court itself were to issue a written order signed by all 9 Justices compelling immediate registration of semi-automatic pistols on pain of immediate execution should the Mayor not comply (a complete fantasy, just used for the sake of illustration), the D.C. government would be back next week with something else to impede ownership of weapons. This is why registration and licensing must never, ever, under any circumstances be allowed or agreed to.
I lived in New York City for 20 years, believe me when I tell you this, you have not even begun to see the District of Columbia obfuscate. Things will get even worse and the courts will do nothing about it. D.C. still has a thousand and one ways of stalling, delaying and stonewalling. God help the people of the federal district.
