By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Related Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors within the nation’s capital will not deliver felony fees in opposition to folks for possessing rifles or shotguns within the District of Columbia, in response to a brand new coverage adopted by the chief of the nation’s largest U.S. legal professional’s workplace.
That workplace will proceed to pursue fees when somebody is accused of utilizing a shotgun or rifle in a violent crime or has a legal document that makes it unlawful to have a firearm. Native authorities in Washington can prosecute folks for illegally possessing unregistered rifles and shotguns.
U.S. Legal professional Jeanine Pirro mentioned in a press release that the change relies on steering from the Justice Division and the Workplace of Solicitor Basic and conforms with two Supreme Courtroom selections on gun rights.
The change additionally overlaps with Trump’s declaration of a criminal offense emergency within the metropolis, flooding the streets of Washington with patrols of a whole lot of federal brokers and Nationwide Guard members. The White Home says 76 firearms have been seized for the reason that crackdown began this month.
The brand new coverage additionally coves large-capacity magazines, but it surely doesn’t apply to handguns.
“We will continue to seize all illegal and unlicensed firearms, and to vigorously prosecute all crimes connected with them,” Pirro mentioned, including that she and Trump “are committed to prosecuting gun crime.”
Pirro mentioned a blanket ban on possessing shotguns and rifles violates the Supreme Courtroom’s ruling in 2022 that struck down a New York gun legislation and held that People have a proper to hold firearms in public for self-defense. She additionally pointed to the excessive court docket’s 2008 resolution in District of Columbia v. Heller hanging down the town’s ban on handguns within the residence.
Initially Revealed: August 20, 2025 at 3:47 PM EDT
