Buying ammo in DC
You know, I have stray rounds in odd calibers in different places. I could probably load a full magazine from strays in my get home bag. I can go to Walmart and just buy ammo. I can hop online and have reasonably priced ammo sent right to my door.
In Washington, D.C., it is illegal to posses ammunition if you dont have a gun registered. It is also unlawful to have ammo that is not in the same caliber or gauge as your legal gun. The penalty for holding a round of the wrong caliber is up to a year in jail — as stiff as the punishment for illegal gun possession.
Wow. And the bureaucrats charged with informing people of the law tend to make up laws that don’t exist.
February 28th, 2012 at 1:29 pm
WOW, someplace even more F’d up than Massachuestts. . . now that took some real work to accomplish. That they should be proud of their hard work – go shout it from the roof tops! It is not easy to get more messed up then us in MA when it comes to gun laws and how to restrict your Constitutionally recognized rightes but DC has done it. . . well played!
February 28th, 2012 at 1:42 pm
Yup. “Ooops, I got .357 Sig ammo for my Colt Python. Ah well.” No ‘ah well’ criminal!
If I lived in DC there is a gun shop (that USED to be in DC decades ago…) called Atlantic Guns. One of their stores is only half a mile from the Silver Spring Metro station. That’s on the Red Line. There may very well be gun stores that sell ammo on the Virginia side that are subway accessible too. That’s how I’d do it, if I needed ammo and had no car. For range access, the one I can think of is the NRA HQ range off of Route 50 in Fairfax Virginia. Just take the Orange Line out to the Vienna Metro station and get a cab for the 4 miles or so to the place. Not really bike or hike accessible.
February 28th, 2012 at 1:52 pm
They fixed the classic 0.9mm blunder.
February 28th, 2012 at 1:52 pm
What about the 22 short I have for my 22 LR Lever gun?
How about the .38 SPC I have for my .357 Mag?
.44 SPC for .44 Mag?
.32 H&R for my .327?
.45 Colt for my .454?
5.56 for my .223?
Does it apply only to loaded ammo?
Can I go to jail for keeping, as a souvenir, the two empty .470 Nitro casings from when I went on safari? I borrowed the Nitro rifle from the guide.
February 28th, 2012 at 3:46 pm
I don’t think DC cares about ‘components’ like MA does, and empty case is not an issue. And .38 for your .357 is not a problem, methinks, when you run into intelligent members of DC Law Enforcement. But how many of those are there?
February 28th, 2012 at 4:03 pm
At least people are still free to escape that slave plantation.
February 28th, 2012 at 4:40 pm
Illinois is just as bad. You cannot purchase or possess ammo without having a FOID card. In Cook County, they prohibit certain certain ammo calibers.
http://www.isp.state.il.us/docs/transgun0-000.pdf
Further, Illinois does NOT recongnize ANY concealed carry permits except for retired cops. Mess up and you face a class-4 felony.
Enjoy your visit to the Land of Lincoln!
February 28th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
If it doesn’t chamber you’re just not pushing hard enough.
February 28th, 2012 at 5:34 pm
How many violent criminals are charged under these laws every year, and how many are convicted every year, and how many are sentenced to actual jail time – in addition to the other convictions for criminal acts.
I suspect that a 16 year old gang banger who was up on, say, assault and battery charges who was arrested with a gun and box of ammo in his pockets would have these oh-so-winnable-with-hard-time ammo charges dismissed in a plea bargain?
February 28th, 2012 at 5:40 pm
Zack,
“The Land of Lincoln” is now the land of slavery.
February 28th, 2012 at 7:01 pm
It is iconic of the pathetic state of our union that DC is such a horrible, oppressive place. Something major needs to change in that hell hole. What were Obama’s words? “Fundamentally transform”. DC needs a good, fundamental transformation.
“‘The Land of Lincoln’ is now the land of slavery.”
It always was. Have you read the Emancipation Proclamation? Well read it again. It didn’t free a single slave.
February 28th, 2012 at 10:45 pm
Back in 1980 I took the written exam for MPD. They allotted 2 hours. I finished in 45 minutes. Took another 10 or so to dbl. check my answers.
Passing grade was a FORTY!
February 28th, 2012 at 11:27 pm
So there’s about 620,000 people living in the District, all to support a Prez and His Deuce, 435 House members, 100 Senators, 9 Supremes, 20 or so-Cabinet Level Directors, and about 500 Ambassadors. Oh, and a couple of the thousand or so Museum, Monument and Parks folk.
That’s an awful lot of Slaves to be Fetching and Carrying for the Massas.
No wonder the Powers That Be don’t want their Servants to be Armed.
February 29th, 2012 at 1:30 am
Holy Crap!
D.C. bans ammo than can penetrate more than 18 layers of kevlar?
The article wasn’t explicit over whether that law applied only to handgun ammunition (though even that qualification just opens up a new can of worms as we all know). So pretty much every centerfire rifle cartridge is illegal armor piercing ammunition under D.C. law?
Good grief.
February 29th, 2012 at 1:32 am
here is even worse π components of ammunition come under the same guideline as ammo. So if you pick up a stray 38 shell at the range along with your 9mm brass you can be charged with possession of an illegal weapon π
Ooops, hope I’ve not given any one any ideas ….
February 29th, 2012 at 1:54 am
@J-cross caliber handguns are exempt. You can’t be charged with .44 spl because you own a .44 magnum, .38 spl for .357 magnum, etc. If you have a firearm registered, I can’t really think of any scenario where it would even come up. Components such as shell casings are not chargeable under the code.
I’m more concerned about the dozen or so indivuals that purchased AKs and AR15s right after Heller but before the ban on them. What happens when the registration is up for renewal? Are they grandfathered? Are they subject to arrest and seizure? Will they even be notified of the expiration date? It seems the post Heller laws are just being made up as they go along.