After striking down D.C.’s ban on carrying handguns in public, a federal judge ordered a hold Tuesday on his ruling to give local government time to prepare, the Washington Post reports:
The judge’s stay, in effect for 90 days, gives city officials and D.C. police officers some breathing room to respond to his ruling that overturned the District’s primary gun-control law.
The initial ruling last week by U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr. meant that thousands of city residents with registered handguns, in addition to legal gun owners from other states, could carry pistols in Washington.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier and city government officials asked for a temporary reprieve on Monday because they said the ruling left many unanswered questions and had led to safety concerns. Lanier told officers in a memo on Monday night that they could no longer stop someone simply for transporting a gun in public.
D.C.’s Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan requested a stay pending appeal to give elected officials time to revise the city’s gun laws. City lawyers said in a court filing that the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Alan Gura, did not object to an immediate 90-day stay as long as the D.C. Council was working to enact new legislation.