Buying a gun in DC
Residents here who buy a gun to keep legally at home, now that the Supreme Court has overturned the city’s ban on handguns, will find that a bureaucratic maze leads them to an unmarked door on Good Hope Road Southeast where Charles W. Sykes Jr. does business.
Mr. Sykes does not sell guns, but on Tuesday he is expected to become the only federally licensed dealer in Washington to serve as the transfer agent for the carefully controlled transactions that will put guns in the hands of district residents.
There are no gun stores here, and a resident who buys a gun elsewhere must have the weapon shipped to a licensed dealer in the district. Mr. Sykes’s permit will allow him to receive the weapon and, for a transaction fee of $125, he will ensure that the requisite paperwork is prepared for approval by federal and district officials before handing over the weapon to its new owner.
Mr. Sykes has been handling this kind of transaction since 1994 for security firms, police officers and the like. His enterprise, CS Exchange Limited and located in the southeast Washington neighborhood of Anacostia, is not listed in the telephone book, and he does not advertise. But his name is commonly known in local gun circles, and he can be found on the Internet.
Well, they could call Josh Sugarmann at the VPC. He’s a merchant of death, ya know.
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Interesting turn of phrase.
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Be interesting to find out how he managed to get his license($125 for a transfer?!?!??) to steal…
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
$125 per transfer.
Because he has a monopoly on the business, of course.
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
As someone asked elsewhere, what about residents getting a Type 3 (C&R) FFL? While they’d face some limits on the firearms available they should then be able to receive them directly without paying any extortion.
And don’t forget – a lot of ‘special edition’ versions of modern firearms are on the ‘curios’ part of the list.
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:19 pm
He’s in Anacostia? Yikes!
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:22 pm
He’s ripping off anyone who pays that fee, police included.
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:43 pm
I wonder how much of that $125.00 goes to “campaign contributions”.
This is so easy to challenge after
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:45 pm
[Yikes, continuing]
Heller, I almost wish I lived in DC.