There are no gun shops within The District at all. So what options do DC residents have if Parker stands. According to Dave Hardy:
Back 20 years ago, I was told there was a sporting goods store in DC that had an FFL. I doubt you could get one today. A expensive solution might be to buy antique arms, those made before Jan. 1 1899, which are not “firearms” under the Gun Control Act and thus can be sold interstate. Rifles would be easiest to find (Krags, 1893 Mausers, etc.) but at greater expense you could probably get, oh, Colt Single Action Armies, etc..
I thought you could buy long guns out of state, as long as the laws of the resident and dealer’s states were complied with? I doubt you’ll find an FFL willing to do it, but I think in theory it could be done.
So here’s a question: Does DC’s ban get severed from the rest of their gun laws? Or do all of DC’s gun laws get removed?  In other word, could I carry a loaded pistol within The District?
I think it’s the lack of laws on purchasing out of state that may be the problem. But as you know, I’m not an attorney and don’t have the laws memorized.
My understanding is that this suit was very narrowly tailored and only addressed having available firearms in the home for protection. Their laws against carry in public will stand until overturned by separate court action…which I don’t see forthcoming considering there are two other states and several localities which preclude the carrying of firearms.
The “no gun shops” issue is a real concern. Under current BATFE regs, in order to get an FFL, one must obtain the approval of the local government. All DC has to do to keep their gun ban in effect for all practical purposes is deny any permission for FFLs to do business in their fair city.
The work-arounds would be antique guns as you mentioned, Curios and Relics (which the local Chief of Police must sign off on so that isn’t foolproof), and people moving into the district who already own guns.
Also, people who already own long guns and have simply been keeping them disabled may now ready them for self defense.
But for all practical purposes, it will take further suits to remove the gun prohibitions in DC and they may not be successful.
This, of course, is all in my very much non-lawyer opinion so take it for what it’s worth…
The local police does not have to sign off on the C&R. You just have to send them a copy. I think they are only supposed to take action if the police have some reason to believe you’re a prohibited person. There’s no zoning requirements for ATF on C&Rs, so the DC police just can’t call them and say “We don’t want one in our city”.
Time for a gun show on the mall!!
Sebastian, you are correct that long guns may be purchased out of state so long as the laws of both jurisdictions are complied with. You don’t need to work with an FFL in your home state to do that. Presumably, that’s how DC’s current owners of long guns (y’know, the ones they could technically own prior to Parker, as long as they stored them in a way that made them unusable in emergencies) got theirs.
As to handguns, the only way I can see this working is to find an FFL in the District and work through him. For a minute there, I was thinking DC residents might be able to get around the general prohibition on out of state handgun purchases in 18 U.S.C. 922(a)(3),(5) on the basis that DC isn’t a state. Unfortunately, 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(2) kills that argument by expressly definining the term “State” to include DC.