WASHINGTON — The Daily Caller learned from Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump Tuesday that of the 206 concealed carry applications sent for review to MPD, 44 were approved so far. According to the MPD website, the department began accepting applications for concealed carry permits on October 23, 2014.
TheDC also asked Mayor Muriel Bowser at a press conference Tuesday if the cost and bureaucracy of applying for a gun permit in the district hinders DC’s poorest from owning a legal firearm for self-defense.
Bowser did not think so and said her answer would not be the same if these same individuals had to go through the same process to vote.
“I think it should cover the cost of administering the program,” she said. Bowser was unable to say how much an individual should pay, though.
On May 18, a federal judge barred enforcement of provisions of the D.C. law that gives discretion to the chief of police as to who is issued a DC concealed firearms permit.
District officials requested the court suspend the order pending further proceedings in the DC concealed carry case known as Wrenn v. District of Columbia.
Washington D.C. is in the midst of a crime spike and shootings occur nearly every day. Bowser and MPD chief Cathy Lanier are proposing methods to remove illegal guns off the streets in the district.
Surrounded by seized firearms, Lanier told reporters that violent criminals are using “high capacity magazines” and “multiple rounds being fired from multiple guns.” TheDC did not see any pistol magazine on display higher than 15 rounds.
“Some of the violence we have seen recently has been just dispute resolution with a gun. It’s that simple and so the way we have to go after that is go after these guns with these high capacity magazines,” Lanier said.
Washington D.C. city councilman Kenyan McDuffie, chair of the D.C.’s judiciary committee, told TheDC, “We’re not talking about law abiding citizens who want concealed carry permits. We’re talking about criminals who have illegal guns and commit violent crime and homicides.”
When asked if Washington’s strict gun laws can make non-violent individuals criminals anyway, he responded, “I’ve been out in the community frequently and when I talk to residents they are really concerned about people who have an illegal gun and the consequences.”
