It was Marion Barry, back when D.C. truly was the country’s murder capital, who uttered the immortal defense of the District, when he told reporters: “This is not Dodge City.”
The year was 1989. The nation’s capital recorded 434 homicides. Barry’s defense fell on streets drenched in blood.
The murder rate is much lower now. Last year we hit 181, according to police. At last count we were at 164, on pace to reach the still unacceptable number of 181.
The nation’s capital still ranks as Dodge City, especially if you live east of Rock Creek Park or across the Anacostia River. A week ago three men were gunned down in our fair city; that would be the day after Barack Obama was elected president and became bound for residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
All three murders are open cases.
If anyone thought our streets would be more safe after the Supreme Court in June struck down D.C.’s strict ban on owning guns, check out the statistics. Assaults with guns, robberies and stickups are steady. What’s changed is that the new law passed by the D.C. Council to comply with the Supreme Court decision makes it more difficult for police to get illegal guns off the street.
In essence, street cops tell me, “The Firearms Control Temporary Act of 2008” makes it difficult to get search warrants for gun investigations.
Take the case of the call reporting the sound of gunfire that came into the 7th District last week. Police responded quickly enough to see a man with a pistol stuck in his belt run into a house.
The cops knocked on the door. When it opened they could see the barrel of a shotgun sticking out from under a bed. But they had no probable cause to enter the house, so they requested a search warrant to check for guns.
The judge would not issue the warrant, because under the new law, police must show the gun in question was involved in a crime.
“It’s a huge gap in the law,” one officer told me. In fact, if cops find someone carrying a pistol without a license, which was cause for arrest, the person can tell them he’s on his way to register the gun. And he walks.
“It’s put a crimp in our ability to get guns off the street,” says a cop, “which is crazy in a city riddled with gunfire.”
In the case of the absent search warrant in 7D, police were able to get occupants of the house to consent to a search; they found and confiscated five guns.
“We’re hoping this loophole gets closed,” another officer told me.
The D.C. Council will soon have the chance to tighten up gun crime laws. Mayor Adrian Fenty has proposed a major anti-crime bill that would help clear gun-toting criminals from the streets. The council’s Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing for Dec. 5.
That might leave enough time to tighten gun laws before the new president settles in.
