Amid an explosion of violent carjackings and armed thefts in downtown Washington, workers who have permits to carry concealed handguns are still forced to go unarmed throughout the city.
Second Amendment advocates say the District’s expansive restrictions on where citizens can legally bear arms are contributing to the city’s crime problem.
“Obviously, the laws in Washington, D.C., are not favorable to gun rights, or self-defense or self-protection. And these carjackings are a great example of how stupid these laws are,” Second Amendment Foundation Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb told The Washington Times.
“We’ve seen around the country where people are allowed to carry concealed firearms where they’ve prevented carjackings in large numbers. But this isn’t going to happen in Washington DC, with the laws they have in place,” he said.
The crime epidemic infecting the nation’s capital includes a rash of carjackings, but gun-rights advocates say the widespread restrictions on guns in parking lots and garages keep many motorists unarmed when driving to and from work.
A recent carjacking rampage grabbed headlines 11-hour violent crime spree throughout Washington and its Maryland suburbs left two men dead, including former Trump administration official Michael Gill, 56.
Law enforcement later gunned down the suspect, 28-year-old Artell Cunningham.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the number of carjackings has increased for the sixth consecutive year, with 959 reported incidents in 2023.
The city’s leaders insist the strict gun laws are a boon to public safety.
Oye Owolewu, one of the District’s shadow representatives in Congress, said more legal guns on the street would just exacerbate the current rise in shootings.
“Once you enter a weapon into the situation, things get more dangerous,” Mr. Owolewu told The Times. “If somebody else has a weapon, and they know I have a weapon, they’re more likely to use that weapon because they know I have one.
For decades, Washington had some of the most restrictive gun laws in the U.S. The city was forced to allow civilians to legally carry after a 2017 federal court order blocked the enforcement of the city’s virtual prohibition on carrying concealed firearms. Since then, the District issued about 8,000 carry permits.
However, the city imposed site restrictions on where permit holders can carry firearms, a vast expanse of the city that includes federal properties that blanket downtown.
This prevents people with concealed carry permits from carrying a handgun where most people work, park their cars or traverse on an average day in downtown Washington.
A federal employee or someone working inside a heavily protected federal building is prohibited from having any weapon, not only firearms but also non-lethal defense devices such as mace or pepper spray.
It also is illegal to store a firearm inside a vehicle in a federal parking lot, such as on the Capitol Hill campus, regardless of whether the owner has a permit for the weapon.
An exception to this rule was made decades ago for members of Congress who are allowed to legally carry their firearms inside the Capitol and around the Capitol complex. Except for law enforcement and members of the military who are on duty and assigned to the Capitol, no one else can carry a handgun inside the complex.
“The government has taken on the job of protecting you, but that’s only so good and as long as you’re within the four walls of that building. Because once you leave, you’re on your own,” said Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America.
The no-carry areas in Washington include:
• A building or office occupied by the District of Columbia or its agencies.
• The building and grounds, including any adjacent parking lot of a child care facility, preschool, elementary or secondary school, or a public or private college or university.
• A hospital or an office where medical or mental health services are the primary services provided.
• A penal institution, secure juvenile residential facility, or halfway house.
• A polling place when voting is occurring.
• on public transportation, including the Metrorail transit system and its stations.
• Public gatherings or special events open to the public when the organizer has provided notice and posted signage prohibiting the carrying of pistols in advance of the gathering or special event.
• The public memorials on the National Mall and along the Tidal Basin, and any area where firearms are prohibited under federal law or by a federal agency, including the U.S. Capitol buildings and grounds.
• The area around the White House, specifically between Constitution Avenue and H Street and between 15th Street and 17th Street NW.
“They’re creating all these gun-free zones now. We’re challenging those in New York and California and other places. I think they’re going to fall, but in the interim, people are basically out of luck, because, yeah, now they’ve got their permits, but they can’t take [their guns] to work,” Mr. Pratt said. “It means if they stopped by the grocery store on the way home, they don’t have it there. It’s like a cascading set of dominoes. It basically disarms them for the entire day.”
• Matt Delaney contributed to this story.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.