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CHIEF, METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT
NOTICE OF EMERGENCY AND PROPOSED RULEMAKING
The Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, pursuant to section 712 of the Firearms Regulations Control Act of 1975 (Act), effective March 31, 2009 (D.C. Law 17-0372; D.C. Official Code § 7-2507.11) (2011 Supp.), hereby gives notice of the adoption on an emergency basis of an amendment to add section 2310 to Chapter 23 (Guns and Other Weapons) of Title 24 (Public Space and Safety) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR). The rulemaking will amend the current vision requirements to conform the regulations to changes to the Act made by the Firearms Emergency Amendment Act of 2012 (Emergency Act), effective May 11, 2012 (D.C. Act 19-352; 59 DCR 5116) and any substantially similar permanent version of the Emergency Act. The amendment will remove the requirement of a vision test as part of an application to register a firearm.
Emergency rulemaking action is necessary to interpret and implement the provisions of section 2(d)(1)(D) of the Emergency Act so that its changes can become effective on its July 1, 2012 applicability date, thereby preserving the health, safety, and welfare of those applicants that would become eligible to register firearms.
This emergency rulemaking was adopted on June 26, 2012, and became effective on July 1, 2012. The emergency rulemaking will expire after one hundred and twenty (120) days, or upon publication of a Notice of Final Rulemaking in the D.C. Register, whichever occurs first.
The Chief also gives notice of her intent to take final rulemaking action to adopt the proposed rulemaking in not less than thirty (30) days from the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.
Section 2310 of chapter 23 of title 24 DCMR is amended to read as follows:
2325 AGE AND VISION REQUIREMENTS
2310.1 To establish age as required by §203(a)(1) of the Act, a valid driver's license, birth certificate, or other government document requiring a date of birth under penalty of perjury shall be acceptable.
2310.2 A valid driver's license from any state, territory, or possession, or an international driver's license or one issued by the military shall, in the case of a new resident, be treated the same as if it had been issued by the District.
2310.3 When a District permit is obtained, the applicant shall communicate the permit number to the Firearms Registration Section.
2310.4 To establish that the applicant complies with the vision requirements of §203(a)(11) of the Act, the applicant shall certify in writing, on a form provided by the Firearms Registration Section, that the applicant’s vision is not impaired more than 20/200 visual acuity in the better eye and for whom vision cannot be improved to better than 20/200, or who has loss of vision due wholly or in part to impairment of field of vision or to other factors which affect the usefulness of vision to a like degree.
2310.5 If the Firearms Registration Section determines there are reasonable grounds to believe that the certification provided in § 2310.4 is not accurate, the Firearms Registration Section may require the applicant to obtain a certification from a licensed optometrist that the applicant meets the vision requirement of §203(a)(11) of the Act.
All persons interested in commenting on the subject matter of this proposed rulemaking action may file comments, in writing, with: Terrence D. Ryan, General Counsel, Metropolitan Police Department, Suite 4125, 300 Indiana Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. Comments must be received no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register. Copies of this proposal may be obtained, at cost, by writing to the above address.
