1. (a) No person or organization shall engage in the business of manufacturing any firearm, destructive device or parts thereof, or ammunition, within the District; provided, that:

   1. (1) Nothing in this section shall preclude persons not otherwise prohibited from possessing firearms from making their own firearms solely for personal use (not for sale or distribution) in accordance with Unit A of this chapter, rules issued pursuant to Unit A of this chapter, and any applicable federal law or regulation; and
   2. (2) A person holding registration certificates may engage in hand loading, reloading, or custom loading ammunition for the person's registered firearms; except, that a person may not hand load, reload, or custom load ammunition for others.
2. (b) No person or organization shall engage in the business of selling, purchasing, or repairing any firearm, destructive device, parts therefor, or ammunition, without first obtaining a dealer’s license, and no licensee shall engage in the business of selling, purchasing, or repairing firearms which are unregisterable under § 7-2502.02, destructive devices, or parts therefor, except pursuant to a valid work or purchase order, for those persons specified in § 7-2502.01(b)(1).
3. (c) Any license issued pursuant to this section shall be issued by the Metropolitan Police Department as a Public Safety endorsement to a basic business license under the basic business license system as set forth in subchapter I-A of Chapter 28 of Title 47.

History

Sept. 24, 1976, D.C. Law 1-85, title IV, § 401, 23 DCR 2464

Apr. 20, 1999, D.C. Law 12-261, § 2003(k)(1), 46 DCR 3142

Oct. 28, 2003, D.C. Law 15-38, § 3(i)(1), 50 DCR 6913

Apr. 21, 2023, D.C. Law 24-347, § 2(f)

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(i)(1) of Streamlining Regulation Emergency Act of 2003 (D.C. Act 15-145, August 11, 2003, 50 DCR 6896).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(e) of Ghost Gun Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2021 (D.C. Act 24-237, Dec. 13, 2021, 68 DCR 013482).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(e) of Ghost Gun Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Act 24-583, Oct. 17, 2022, 69 DCR 012714).

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 15-38, in subsec. (c), substituted “Public Safety endorsement to a basic business license under the basic” for “Class A Public Safety endorsement to a master business license under the master”.

Prior Codifications

1973 Ed., § 6-1841.

1981 Ed., § 6-2341.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 7-2508.01.

Temporary Legislation

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(e) of Ghost Gun Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2021 (D.C. Law 24-87, Mar. 2, 2022, 69 DCR 000450).

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(e) of Ghost Gun Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Law 24-221, Dec. 21, 2022, 69 DCR 13966).