U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro gives remarks after her swearing-in ceremony, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian
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. The White House said the enhanced law enforcement teams had seized 68 firearms as of Tuesday morning.
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