Title 7 — Human Health Care and Safety.

(a) As used in this unit the term: (1) “Acts of Congress” means: (A) Chapter 45 of Title 22; (B) Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended (title VII, Unlawful Possession or Receipt of Firearms (82 Stat. 1236; 18 U.S.C. Appendix)); and (C) An Act to Amend Tit…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this unit, no person or organization in the District of Columbia (“District”) shall receive, possess, control, transfer, offer for sale, sell, give, or deliver any destructive device, and no person or organization in the District shall possess …

(a) A registration certificate shall not be issued for a: (1) Sawed-off shotgun; (2) Machine gun; (3) Short-barreled rifle; (4) Pistol not validly registered to the current registrant in the District prior to September 24, 1976, except that the prohibition on registering a pistol…

(a) No registration certificate shall be issued to any person (and in the case of a person between the ages of 18 and 21, to the person and his signatory parent or guardian) or organization unless the Chief determines that such person (or the president or chief executive in the c…

(a) The Chief shall require any person applying for a registration certificate to be fingerprinted in order to conduct an efficient and adequate investigation into the matters described in § 7-2502.03 and to effectuate the purposes of this unit. The Chief shall maintain a record …

(a) Each applicant (the president or chief executive in the case of an organization) shall sign an oath or affirmation attesting to the truth of all the information required by § 7-2502.03 or § 7-2502.07a. (b) Each application required by this subchapter shall be accompanied by a…

(a) An application for a registration certificate shall be filed (and a registration certificate issued) prior to taking possession of a firearm from a licensed dealer or from any person or organization holding a registration certificate therefor. In all other cases, an applicati…

(a) Upon receipt of a properly executed application for registration certificate, the Chief, upon determining through inquiry, investigation, or otherwise, that the applicant is entitled and qualified under the provisions of this unit, thereto, shall issue a registration certific…

(a) Registration certificates shall expire 3 years after the date of issuance unless renewed in accordance with this section for subsequent 3-year periods. (b) A registrant shall be eligible for renewal of registration of a firearm if the registrant continues to meet all of the i…

(a) Each person or organization holding a registration certificate (for purposes of this section, “registrant”) shall: (1) Notify the Chief in writing of the loss, theft, or destruction of the registration certificate or of a registered firearm (including the circumstances, if kn…

(a) A registration certificate shall be revoked if: (1) Any of the criteria in § 7-2502.03(a) are not currently met; (2) The registered firearm has become an unregisterable firearm under the terms of § 7-2502.02, or a destructive device; or (3) The information furnished to the Ch…

(a) If it appears to the Chief that an application for a registration certificate should be denied or that a registration certificate should be revoked, the Chief shall notify the applicant or registrant of the proposed denial or revocation, briefly stating the reason or reasons …

No information obtained from a person under this subchapter or retained by a person in order to comply with any section of this subchapter, shall be used as evidence against such person in any criminal proceeding with respect to a violation of this unit, occurring prior to or con…

Any record regarding a person who has applied for, received, or had revoked any registration issued pursuant to this subchapter shall not be made available as a public record under § 2-532.

For the purposes of §§ 7-2502.12 through 7-2502.14, the term: “Self-defense spray” means a mixture of a lacrimator including chloroacetophenone, alphacloracetophenone, phenylchloromethylketone, orthochlorobenazalm-alononitrile or oleoresin capsicum.

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 7-2501.01(7)(C), a person 18 years of age or older may possess and use a self-defense spray in the exercise of reasonable force in defense of the person or the person’s property only if it is propelled from an aerosol container, labeled wit…

(a) A person 18 years of age or older must register the self-defense spray at the time of purchase by completing a standard registration form. (b) The vendor must forward the registration form to the Metropolitan Police Department.

(a) The executor or administrator of an estate containing a firearm shall notify the Chief of the death of the decedent within 30 days of his appointment or qualification, whichever is earlier. (b) Until the lawful distribution of such firearm to an heir or legatee or the lawful …

(a) No person or organization shall manufacture any firearm, destructive device or parts thereof, or ammunition, within the District; provided, that persons holding registration certificates may engage in hand loading, reloading, or custom loading ammunition for his registered fi…

(a) Any person eligible to register a firearm under this unit and who, if a registrant, has not previously failed to perform any of the duties imposed by this unit; and, any person eligible under the acts of Congress to engage in such business, may obtain a dealer’s license, or a…

(a) Upon receipt of a properly executed application for a dealer’s license, or renewal thereof, the Chief, upon determining through further inquiry, investigation, or otherwise, that the applicant is entitled and qualified under the provisions of this unit thereto, shall issue a …

(a) Each person holding a dealer’s license, in addition to any other requirements imposed by this unit, the acts of Congress, and other law, shall: (1) Display the dealer’s license in a conspicuous place on the premises; (2) Notify the Chief in writing: (A) Of the loss, theft, or…

A dealer’s license shall be revoked if: (1) Any of the criteria in § 7-2504.04 is not currently met; (2) The information furnished to the Chief on the application for a dealer’s license proves to be intentionally false; (3) There is a violation or omission of the duties, obligati…

(a) If it appears to the Chief that an application for a dealer’s license should be denied or that a dealer’s license should be revoked, the Chief shall notify the applicant or registrant of the proposed denial or revocation briefly stating the reason or reasons therefor. Service…

(a) No licensed dealer shall display any firearm or ammunition in windows visible from a street or sidewalk. All firearms, destructive devices, and ammunition shall be kept at all times in a securely locked place affixed to the premises except when being shown to a customer, bein…

(a) No licensee shall sell or offer for sale any firearm which does not have imbedded into the metal portion of such firearm a unique manufacturer’s identification number or serial number, unless the licensee shall have imbedded into the metal portion of such firearm a unique dea…

No information obtained from or retained by a licensed dealer to comply with this unit shall be used as evidence against such licensed dealer in any criminal proceeding with respect to a violation of this unit occurring prior to or concurrently with the filing of such information…

(a) Whenever there is no active federal firearms licensee in the District of Columbia, the Mayor may seek from federal authorities a license for the District to act as a federal firearms licensee solely for the benefit of any District resident eligible and seeking to obtain a law…

No person or organization shall sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of any firearm, destructive device or ammunition in the District except as provided in § 7-2502.10(c), § 7-2505.02, or § 7-2507.05.

(a) Any person or organization eligible to register a firearm may sell or otherwise transfer ammunition or any firearm, except those which are unregisterable under § 7-2502.02, to a licensed dealer. (b) Any licensed dealer may sell or otherwise transfer: (1) Ammunition, excluding…

(a) For the purposes of the section, the term: (1) “Firearms dealer” means a person or organization possessing a dealer’s license under authority of subchapter IV of this chapter. (2) “Manufacturer” means any person in business to manufacture or assemble a firearm, for sale or di…

(a) Except as provided in subsections (c), (d), or (e) of this section, beginning January 1, 2009, a pistol that is not on the California Roster of Handguns Certified for Sale, (also known as the California Roster of Handguns Determined Not to be Unsafe), pursuant to California P…

(a) No person shall possess ammunition in the District of Columbia unless: (1) He is a licensed dealer pursuant to subchapter IV of this unit; (2) He is an officer, agent, or employee of the District of Columbia or the United States of America, on duty and acting within the scope…

(a) No firearm, destructive device, or ammunition shall be security for, or be taken or received by way of any mortgage, deposit, pledge, or pawn. (b) No person may loan, borrow, give, or rent to or from another person, any firearm, destructive device, or ammunition.

(a) It shall be the policy of the District of Columbia that each registrant should keep any firearm in his or her possession unloaded and either disassembled or secured by a trigger lock, gun safe, locked box, or other secure device. (b) No person shall store or keep any firearm …

Any person operating a firing range in the District, shall in addition to any other requirement imposed by law, register with the Chief, on a form prescribed by him, which shall include the business name of the range, the location, the names and home addresses of the owners and p…

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person purchasing any firearm or ammunition, or applying for any registration certificate or dealer’s license under this unit, or in giving any information pursuant to the requirements of this unit, to knowingly give false information or offer fal…

(a) If a person or organization within the District voluntarily and peaceably delivers and abandons to the Chief any firearm, destructive device or ammunition at any time, such delivery shall preclude the arrest and prosecution of such person on a charge of violating any provisio…

(a) Except as provided in §§ 7-2502.05, 7-2502.08, 7-2507.02, 7-2508.07, and subchapter IX of this chapter [§ 7-2509.01 et seq.], any person convicted of a violation of any provision of this unit shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 or imprisoned for …

Any conveyance in which a person or persons transport, possess, or conceal any firearm, as that term is defined in § 7-2501.01, or in any manner use to facilitate a violation of § 7-2502.02 or § 22-4503 or § 22-4504, is subject to forfeiture pursuant to the standards and procedur…

The Chief shall carry on a suitable publicity program designed to inform the citizens of the District of the provisions of this unit and the rights and obligations created by it.

Nothing in this unit shall be construed, or applied to necessarily require, or excuse noncompliance with any provision of any federal law. This unit and the penalties prescribed in § 7-2507.06, for violations of this unit, shall not supersede but shall supplement all statutes of …

The provisions of the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act (§ 2-501 et seq.) shall apply to each proceeding, decision, or other administrative action specified in this unit, unless otherwise specifically provided.

If any provision of this unit or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this unit and the application of such provision to other persons not similarly situated or to other circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

The Chief, pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2 [§ 2-501 et seq.], may issue rules to implement the provisions of this unit.

For the purposes of this subchapter, the term: (1) “Correctional facility” means any building or group of buildings and concomitant services operated as a single management unit by the Department of Corrections, or a similar federal, state, county, or local government agency, or …

(a) A gun offender shall register with the Chief for a period of 2 years, unless a longer period is required by § 7-2508.03 or § 7-2508.07(b). The offender shall register: (1) Within 48 hours (not including a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or day on which the District of Columb…

A gun offender shall comply with the registration and verification provisions required by § 7-2508.02 for a period beginning when he or she is sentenced for a gun offense and continuing until 2 years after the expiration of any time being served on probation, parole, supervised r…

(a) Upon a defendant’s conviction for a gun offense, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (“Court”) shall enter an order certifying that the defendant is a gun offender. The Court shall: (1) Advise the gun offender of his or her duties under this subchapter; (2) Order t…

(a) Gun offender registration information shall not be made available except as authorized under subsection (b) of this section. No gun offender registration information shall be available as a public record under § 2-532. (b) The Chief is authorized to make gun offender registra…