Pirro's office won't pursue gun charges over carrying rifles, shotgun [View all]

Last edited Wed Aug 20, 2025, 08:05 AM - Edit history (2)

Source: Washington Post

WP EXCLUSIVE
Pirro's office won't pursue gun charges over carrying rifles, shotgun

D.C.'s top prosecutor said her office would continue charging violent crimes and firearms trafficking that involve those weapons.

August 19, 2025 at 9:24 p.m. EDTToday at 9:24 p.m. EDT
6 min


U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, D.C.'s top federal prosecutor, at a news conference this month. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

By Salvador Rizzo

Federal prosecutors in D.C. have been instructed not to seek felony charges against people who are carrying rifles or shotguns in the nation's capital, regardless of the strength of the evidence, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and an email reviewed by The Washington Post.

The new policy, which Pirro said was crafted by the Justice Department and its solicitor general, marks a break with past practice. Prosecutors have used the D.C. law at issue -- which prohibits carrying shotguns or rifles, with narrow exceptions for permit-holders -- to charge defendants in several high-profile incidents, including a 2019 shotgun attack in Northeast Washington and the "Pizzagate" shooter who targeted a restaurant in the city's Chevy Chase neighborhood with an AR-15 rifle and a handgun in 2016.

The shift comes at an unexpected time -- just as the Trump administration ramps up federal law enforcement to unprecedented levels on the streets of D.C. in a bid to decrease crime rates -- and complicates the White House's boasts of seizing dozens of guns as part of President Donald Trump's surge.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/08/19/pirro-dc-rifle-shotgun-charges/

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Edited to add material from Joe.My.God.

https://www.joemygod.com/2025/08/pirro-no-charges-for-carrying-rifles-shotguns-in-dc/

Pirro: No Charges For Carrying Rifles/Shotguns In DC
August 20, 2025



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Reposted by Insufficiently Positive About Slavery Hat
https://bsky.app/profile/kenwhite.bsky.social

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro—who claims she’s helping Trump fight crime in D.C.—will no longer charge people for illegally carrying shotguns and assault weapons in public, which is a felony offense under D.C. law.

Washingtonians, do we feel safer yet? www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjsdc.bsky.social) 2025-08-20T02:28:31.965Z

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Mark Joseph Stern
‪@mjsdc.bsky.social‬

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U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro--who claims she's helping Trump fight crime in D.C.--will no longer charge people for illegally carrying shotguns and assault weapons in public, which is a felony offense under D.C. law.

Washingtonians, do we feel safer yet?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/08/19/pirro-dc-rifle-shotgun-charges/

Pirro's office won't pursue gun charges over carrying rifles, shotguns
A statement from Pirro on Tuesday said D.C.'s blanket prohibition on carrying shotguns or rifles "is clearly a violation of the Supreme Court's holdings."
www.washingtonpost.com
August 19, 2025 at 10:28 PM
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I probably don’t need to say this, but Pirro is obviously wrong that Supreme Court precedent prohibits the prosecution of people carrying illegal firearms without a permit. There is no right to permitless public carry. Not even close. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjsdc.bsky.social) 2025-08-20T02:32:12.767Z

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Mark Joseph Stern
‪@mjsdc.bsky.social‬

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I probably don't need to say this, but Pirro is obviously wrong that Supreme Court precedent prohibits the prosecution of people carrying illegal firearms without a permit. There is no right to permitless public carry. Not even close.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/08/19/pirro-dc-rifle-shotgun-charges/

Pirro's office won't pursue gun charges over carrying rifles, shotguns
A statement from Pirro on Tuesday said D.C.'s blanket prohibition on carrying shotguns or rifles "is clearly a violation of the Supreme Court's holdings."
www.washingtonpost.com
August 19, 2025 at 10:32 PM
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Oh goody, that means it’s OK for the Black Panthers to open carry long guns in DC too. Or will Pirro pirouette like governor Reagan and the NRA in ‘67. They thought open carry was just fine until the Panthers showed up in Sacramento with legal long guns. Then all of a sudden they wanted gun control.

— (@kidjo2.bsky.social) 2025-08-20T02:44:11.660Z

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kidjo2.bsky.social
‪@kidjo2.bsky.social‬

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Oh goody, that means it's OK for the Black Panthers to open carry long guns in DC too. Or will Pirro pirouette like governor Reagan and the NRA in '67. They thought open carry was just fine until the Panthers showed up in Sacramento with legal long guns. Then all of a sudden they wanted gun control.
Armed members of the Black Panther Party leaving the Capitol in Sacramento, California, May 2, 1967. (Credit: AP Photo)
ALT
August 19, 2025 at 10:44 PM
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