D.C. Council considers easing gun laws

The District’s top lawmaker wants to loosen penalties for nonresidents who break two of the city’s firearms laws, part of a gun-control policy long considered to be one of the nation’s most stringent.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson has introduced legislation that would allow prosecutors to offer “administrative dispositions” to nonresidents accused of possessing unregistered firearms or ammunition, allowing them to avoid criminal convictions.

The D.C. attorney general could extend similar offers to District residents and nonresidents alike if they were accused of possessing a single restricted pistol bullet.