The Trump administration has instructed federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., not to pursue felony charges, regardless of evidence, against people carrying rifles and shotguns in the capital, The Washington Post reported. The policy conflicts with the district’s law barring people from holding a firearm without a permit.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro says the new policy protects people’s Second Amendment rights. It follows the Justice Department’s push to remove certain regulations that Americans have to follow to legally possess a gun in their respective states.
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“Nothing in this memo from the Department of Justice and the Office of Solicitor General precludes the United States Attorney’s Office from charging a felon with the possession of a firearm, which includes a rifle, shotgun, and attendant large capacity magazine pursuant to DC Code 22-4503,” Pirro told the Post. “What it does preclude is a separate charge of possession of a registered rifle or shotgun.”
Pirro said the city’s ban on carrying shotguns or rifles without permits violates two Supreme Court rulings on the right to bear arms: District of Columbia v. Heller from 2008 and N.Y. State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen from 2022. In the first case, the court affirmed a person can have firearms in their homes for self-defense and other purposes. In the second, justices ruled lower courts should invalidate firearm regulations not rooted in historical tradition.
The D.C. Attorney General’s Office has a limited authority to pursue firearms-related felonies. The U.S. attorney — currently, Pirro — prosecutes both federal and local crimes.
In the district, a person may be charged with a firearm felony if they have previously violated the local law or any other locality’s firearm codes. Prosecutors have used this law to charge Edgar Maddison Welch with firearms offenses for the “Pizzagate” shooting in a D.C. restaurant in 2016. Welch died in a January police shooting in North Carolina.
Pirro announced the change in how the law would be enforced following reports that some National Guard troops patrolling the district’s streets could be armed. The troops and other federal agencies were deployed to the nation’s capital after President Donald Trump declared a crime emergency, citing what they called “false reports” on the city’s crime rate. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a social media post that the DOJ has made more than 550 arrests and removed 76 “illegal firearms” from the streets.
DC’s firearm laws
The gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety ranked D.C. as having some of the strongest gun laws in the nation, citing legislation on background checks and extreme risk protections. Meanwhile, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which supports gun rights, characterized the laws as restrictive, forcing Washingtonians to fill out a labyrinth of paperwork.
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, agents recovered 98 rifles and 38 shotguns in D.C. in 2023. The agency noted that not all the firearms used in a crime are traced, and not all firearms traced were used in crimes.
Karl Racine, a former D.C. attorney general, and Malvika Reddy, a former co-director of March for Our Lives’ Maryland chapter, argued in a 2021 Washington Post opinion piece that the district’s strict gun laws saved the city from further mayhem following the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
“Our gun laws limited the scale of violence,” Racine and Reddy wrote, “and will now help us hold accountable those who were caught carrying firearms to what was initially disguised as a lawful protest. These laws actively aided in the cause of protecting our democracy and our efforts to recover through accountability.”
President Donald Trump pardoned almost 1,600 people who were charged or convicted of crimes related to Jan. 6.
Armed guardsmen in DC
Long weapons could soon become more prevalent on Washington streets.
National Public Radio reported on Sunday that National Guard members patrolling the district’s streets could soon be armed. The guard’s statement contradicted the Army’s earlier assertion that guard members would not carry weapons or make arrests.
Army Senior Master Sgt. Craig Clapper told NPR that troops could be armed “consistent with their mission and training.”
“Their presence is focused on supporting civil authorities and ensuring the safety of the community they serve,” he told the radio station. “The DC National Guard remains committed to assisting the District of Columbia and serving its residents and visitors whenever called upon.”
