FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump's crime crackdown in Washington, D.C., includes streamlining the gun permitting process for law-abiding residents looking to protect themselves, Fox News Digital has learned.
The concealed carry permitting process and firearm registration process in the deep blue city have been slashed from months down to days via Trump's Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which was established via an executive order in March to revitalize the nation's capital. The working group's work to clean up the city did not include changing local gun laws, but instead streamlines the city's already established process, so law-abiding residents can more easily navigate the firearms system.
"President Trump is not only stopping violent crime in Washington, D.C., he is also streamlining the permitting process for law-abiding residents who want the ability to protect themselves and their families," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. "The Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force has been working with local officials to eliminate longstanding obstacles and successfully reduced the average permit processing time from several months to just five days."
Under the task force's efforts, locals are able to book next-day appointments to register their firearms with the Metropolitan Police Department, while walk-in appointments are now available and advertised on the police department's website.
Previously, applicants typically waited four months for a firearms registration appointment, a White House official told Fox Digital.
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The concealed carry permit process also has been streamlined, Fox Digital learned. What used to take "several months" to obtain a concealed carry permit, has been cut down to 4.6 days, according to data compiled during the month of May by the task force, which the White House shared with Fox News Digital.
Appointments for firearm registration and conceal carry licenses also have been combined into one category to cut back on confusion over which option to choose when beginning the gun process. While the District will soon use third-party finger printers, in addition to Metropolitan Police Department machines, after the D.C. City Council voted to broaden where people can get fingerprinted July 28.
Washington, D.C., has some of the most strict gun laws in the nation, including requiring permitted concealed carry holders to re-apply for their license every two years, a ban on most semi-automatic rifles, and ammunition restrictions that ban an individual from possessing ammo for a firearm not registered with the Metropolitan Police Department. The District also has an extensive list of gun-free zones, including public memorials on the National Mall, public transportation, government buildings, schools and colleges, hospitals and medical offices, stadiums and anywhere alcohol is sold.
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Those registering firearms and applying for concealed carry permits will need to complete D.C.'s requirements to obtain the documents, including completing a firearms training course to obtain a concealed carry license. The Metropolitan Police Department published a lengthy list of reasons an individual's firearm registration application would be denied, including refusing to be fingerprinted, refusing to be photographed, refusing to pay fees for the application process or attempting to register a banned firearm, such as a short-barreled shotgun and so-called "assault weapons."
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The working group established by the executive order is exploring options to broaden firearm access in the city, such as permitting female concealed carry holders to carry firearms in their handbags as opposed to rules requiring firearms be strapped to a person's body, Fox Digital learned.
The working group is also looking at options that would permit concealed carry on public transit, and to kick off reciprocity for concealed carry permits from other states, but such changes would require the D.C. City Council approval.
Trump's Making D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force includes members from federal agencies such as the Department of the Interior, the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. The task force is directed, consistent with applicable law, to make D.C. "safe, beautiful, and prosperous by preventing crime, punishing criminals, preserving order, protecting our revered American monuments, and promoting beautification and the preservation of our history and heritage."
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Trump's March executive order establishing the task force was followed months later by Trump federalizing the D.C. police department Monday, ordering hundreds of National Guard troops to sweep the streets, while law enforcement officials from agencies such as the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Department of Homeland Security have assisted with arrests and cracking down on crime in the district.
Trump federalized the city under the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which allows the president to assume emergency control of the capital's police force for 30 days.
Trump described the federalization of the police as "Liberation Day in D.C.," declaring, "We're going to take our capital back."
"We're taking it back under the authority vested in me as the president of the United States, I'm officially invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act," he said Monday. "You know what that is. And placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control. … In addition, I'm deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, D.C. And they're going to be allowed to do their job properly."
