Handgun's Color Leads to Lawsuit

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Handgun's Color Leads to Lawsuit
By Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 10, 2009; B04


A D.C. woman filed suit in U.S. District Court yesterday, claiming that the city would not let her register a pistol because of its color.
Tracey A. Hanson argued that her application to register a .45-caliber semiautomatic was denied because the gun is not on the California Safe Handgun Roster, which is the standard in the city.
Hanson tried to register a two-tone, stainless steel/black pistol, according to the suit. But the list has that model in olive drab green, dark earth or black, not in two-tone, stainless/black, the suit asserts. Hanson said rejection for that reason "seemed so arbitrary."
The lawsuit, which lists Hanson and two other people as plaintiffs, was filed by Alan Gura, who argued the Supreme Court case that overturned the city's handgun ban. Arbitrary requirements bring "nonsensical results," Gura said. The suit asks that the city be barred from enforcing gun regulations based on the California list.
Peter Nickles, the city's attorney general, said he had not seen the lawsuit and could not discuss its details.
But he said he is confident that the D.C. regulations are "completely appropriate" under the Second Amendment.