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Current through October 23, 2012
(a) No person shall own or keep a firearm, or have a firearm in his or her possession or under his or her control, within the District of Columbia, if the person:
(1) Has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
(2) Is not licensed under § 22-4510 to sell weapons, and the person has been convicted of violating this chapter;
(3) Is a fugitive from justice;
(4) Is addicted to any controlled substance, as defined in § 48-901.02(4);
(5) Is subject to a court order that:
(A)(i) Was issued after a hearing of which the person received actual notice, and at which the person had an opportunity to participate; or
(ii) Remained in effect after the person failed to appear for a hearing of which the person received actual notice;
(B) Restrains the person from assaulting, harassing, stalking, or threatening the petitioner or any other person named in the order; and
(C) Requires the person to relinquish possession of any firearms;
(6) Has been convicted within the past 5 years of an intrafamily offense, as defined in § 16-1001(8), punishable as a misdemeanor, or any similar provision in the law of another jurisdiction.
(b)(1) A person who violates subsection (a)(1) of this section shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 10 years and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a mandatory-minimum term of 1 year, unless she or he has a prior conviction for a crime of violence other than conspiracy, in which case she or he shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 15 years and shall be sentenced to a mandatory-minimum term of 3 years.
(2) A person sentenced to a mandatory-minimum term of imprisonment under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not be released from prison or granted probation or suspension of sentence prior to serving the mandatory-minimum sentence.
(c) A person who violates subsection (a)(2) through (a)(6) of this section shall be sentenced to not less than 2 years nor more than 10 years, fined not more than $15,000, or both.
(d) For the purposes of this section, the term:
(1) "Crime of violence" shall have the same meaning as provided in § 23- 1331(4), or a crime under the laws of any other jurisdiction that involved conduct that would constitute a crime of violence if committed in the District of Columbia, or conduct that is substantially similar to that prosecuted as a crime of violence under the District of Columbia Official Code.
(2) "Fugitive from justice" means a person who has:
(A) Fled to avoid prosecution for a crime or to avoid giving testimony in a criminal proceeding; or
(B) Escaped from a federal, state, or local prison, jail, halfway house, or detention facility or from the custody of a law enforcement officer.
(July 8, 1932, 47 Stat. 651, ch. 465, § 3; June 29, 1953, 67 Stat. 93, ch. 159, § 204(b); May 21, 1994, D.C. Law 10-119, § 15(b), 41 DCR 1639; Apr. 24, 2007, D.C. Law 16-306, § 223(c), 53 DCR 8610; Dec. 10, 2009, D.C. Law 18-88, § 219(b), 56 DCR 7413; June 3, 2011, D.C. Law 18-377, § 13, 58 DCR 1174; Sept. 26, 2012, D.C. Law 19-170, § 3(c), 59 DCR 5691.)
HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 22-3203.
1973 Ed., § 22-3203.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 16-306 substituted "firearm" for "pistol" throughout the section; and rewrote subsec. (b), which had read as follows:
"(b) No person shall keep a pistol for, or intentionally make a pistol available to, such a person, knowing that such person has been so convicted or that such person is a drug addict. Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in § 22-4515, unless the violation occurs after such person has been convicted of a violation of this section, in which case such person shall be imprisoned for not more than 10 years."
D.C. Law 18-88 rewrote the section, which had read as follows:
"(a) No person shall own or keep a firearm, or have a firearm in his or her possession or under his or her control, within the District of Columbia, if:
"(1) Such person is a drug addict;
"(2) Such person has been convicted in the District of Columbia or elsewhere of a felony;
"(3) Such person has been convicted of violating § 22-2701, § 22-2722, or §§ 22-3502 to 22-3506; or
"(4) Such person is not licensed under § 22-4510 to sell weapons, and such person has been convicted of violating this chapter.
"(b) No person shall keep a firearm for, or intentionally make a firearm available to, such a person, knowing that such person has been so convicted or that such person is a drug addict. Whoever violates this section shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 10 years and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a mandatory-minimum term of not less than 1 year and shall not be released from prison or granted probation or suspension of sentence prior to serving the mandatory-minimum sentence."
D.C. Law 18-377, in subsec. (a)(5)(C), deleted "(as provided in § 16- 1005(c)(10)" following "firearms".
D.C. Law 19-170 rewrote subsec. (a)(6), which had read as follows:
"(6) Has been convicted of an intrafamily offense, as defined in § 16-1001, or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction;"
Emergency Act Amendments
For temporary authorization for seizure and forfeiture of firearms under certain circumstances, see § 2 of the Zero Tolerance for Guns Emergency Amendment Act of 1996 (D.C. Act 11-390, August 26, 1996, 43 DCR 4986).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 223(c) of Omnibus Public Safety Emergency Amendment Act of 2006 (D.C. Act 16-445, July 19, 2006, 53 DCR 6443).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 223(c) of Omnibus Public Safety Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2006 (D.C. Act 16-490, October 18, 2006, 53 DCR 8686).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 223(c) of Omnibus Public Safety Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2007 (D.C. Act 17-10, January 16, 2007, 54 DCR 1479).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 223(c) of Omnibus Public Safety Second Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2007 (D.C. Act 17-25, April 19, 2007, 54 DCR 4036).
For temporary (90 day) additions, see § 2(b) of Inoperable Pistol Emergency Amendment Act of 2008 (D.C. Act 17-652, January 6, 2009, 56 DCR 927).
For temporary (90 day) additions, see § 2(b) of Inoperable Pistol Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2009 (D.C. Act 18-24, March 16, 2009, 56 DCR 2309).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 302(c) of Crime Bill Emergency Amendment Act of 2009 (D.C. Act 18-129, June 29, 2009, 56 DCR 5495).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 219(b) of Omnibus Public Safety and Justice Emergency Amendment Act of 2009 (D.C. Act 18-181, August 6, 2009, 56 DCR 6903).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 219(b) of Omnibus Public Safety and Justice Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2009 (D.C. Act 18-227, October 21, 2009, 56 DCR 8668).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 513 of Public Safety Legislation Sixty-Day Layover Emergency Amendment Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-693, January 18, 2011, 58 DCR 640).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 513 of Public Safety Legislation Sixty-Day Layover Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-45, April 20, 2011, 58 DCR 3701).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(c) of Firearms Emergency Amendment Act of 2012 (D.C. Act 19-352, May 11, 2012, 59 DCR 5116).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(c) of the Firearms Amendments Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2012 (D.C. Act 19- 394, July 18, 2012, 59 DCR 8694).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(c) of the Firearms Second Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2012 (D.C. Act 19-510, October 26, 2012, 59 DCR 12808).
Legislative History of Laws
For legislative history of D.C. Law 10-119, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 22-4502.
For Law 16-306, see notes following § 22-3302.
For Law 18-88, see notes following § 22-402.
For history of Law 18-377, see notes under § 22-303.
For history of Law 19-170, see notes under § 22-4501.
Miscellaneous Notes
Seizure and forfeiture of conveyances used in firearms offenses: Section 2(b) of D.C. Law 11-273 provided for the forfeiture and seizure of any conveyance, including vehicles and vessels in which any person or persons transport, possess, or conceal any firearm as defined in § 6-2302 [§ 7-2501.01, 2001 Ed.], or in any manner use to facilitate a violation of §§ 22-3203 and 22-3204 [§§ 22-4503 and 22-4504, 2001 Ed.].
