I have a key chain made for me by a friend. He took an empty, once fired .45 caliber shell casing, inserted a loop through the primer hole to hold a key ring, then seated a new bullet in the case to give the appearance of a live round. There is no powder in the case nor is there a live primer. It is just two pieces of metal, a copper clad lead bullet inserted into an empty brass cylinder, attached to a metal loop.
I carry this keychain as a reminder of the 30 years I spent in the military. As a Military Policeman and a M1 Abrams Tank Crewman, I carried a Model 1911 .45 caliber pistol until it was replaced by the M9- 9mm pistol.
I could enter all fifty states in the union without issue with this keychain in my pocket, but when I cross the line into Washington DC, I could be subject to arrest. It seems that “The District” (that’s what the locals call it) has some of the most restrictive and moronic guns laws in the world. In the District, you can face up to three years in jail for possession of a single round of ammunition if you do not have a permit for a gun that fires that caliber round. No permit, you go to jail. Permit for a 9mm pistol, but you have a .45 caliber round in your pocket, you go to jail. Because the laws are so loosely written, people with dud rounds, dummy rounds and fired, expended rounds with no bullet or powder in them have been arrested and jailed.
Army Veteran jailed for a few loose rounds in his Medic bag
Man with dud shotgun shell and muzzleloader bullets convicted
In summary, I can stand in Maryland just over the state line from the District with a wooden crate of 5000 rounds of 9mm ammo and it’s no problem. But if I step across the state line with just one of those rounds, I am instantly guilty of a felony. Make sense?
And is all of this micromanagement of ammunition making the District a safer place to live? Not really. In the last FBI Crime Statistics Report, the District’s violent crime rate was 1,243 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. Next on the list is the State of Tennessee with 643 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, about half of “The Districts” rate.
What about the expense of enforcement. If you read the links to the two stories above, what do you think it cost to arrest, hold and prosecute the two individuals who had no ill intent whatsoever? Would that time and money have been better spent arresting real criminals?
But what happens when NBC’s David Gregory used an illegal 30 round AR-15 magazine in a news report originating in “The District”? The DC Attorney General decided prosecuting Gregory wouldn’t be in the best interest of Public Safety.
Make sense?