Amid Refusal to Fully Prosecute D.C. Gun Laws and Unconfirmed Reports of Arming National Guard Members with M17s, Brady Condemns Any Efforts to Add More Guns to D.C. Streets

Reporting indicates that the Trump administration is walking back previous statements that guard members would not carry firearms, abruptly ending enforcement of restrictions on civilians carrying shotguns and rifles, in the nation’s capital, and is speeding up the approval of concealed carry permits 

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 21, 2025 — Today, Brady, a leading national gun violence prevention group, released a statement responding to recent and upcoming Trump administration actions that will increase the presence and proliferation of guns in the District of Columbia.

Brady President Kris Brown said: 

It doesn’t take an expert to realize that more weapons on our streets won’t decrease crime. If more guns meant less crime, then America would be the safest nation on Earth. But the Trump administration is dangerously escalating its takeover of our nation’s capital by subverting D.C.’s gun laws and militarizing our streets. U.S. Attorney Jeannine Pirro’s announcement that her office will not be prosecuting individuals for carrying rifles and shotguns in violation of D.C.’s laws creates unnecessary confusion for D.C. police and residents alike. Make no mistake, refusals to fully enforce gun laws in the district to score political points has real-world consequences: exposing some of our most sensitive institutions to unnecessary risk and threatening the thousands of ordinary people who live in, visit, and work here every day. Disturbingly, this announcement may serve as an invitation to  extremists and vigilantes that they can march the streets with weapons without threat of felony charges. But it doesn’t stop there: arming National Guard members with potentially defective M17s would create a dangerous tinder box that could explode at any moment. The presence of a firearm heightens tensions and exacerbates potentially deadly confrontations, and this is particularly relevant within interactions in which there is an inherently unequal power dynamic between officers and civilians.

We can’t let Trump dominate D.C. with a deadly  ‘guns everywhere’ agenda, just as we cannot allow this tyranny to be exported to other cities in his sights – like New York, Boston, Chicago, Oakland, and Los Angeles – with significant Black and Brown populations and political leadership. If Trump wanted to reduce crime and make our country safer, the steps are simple: he would return the funds he slashed for community-based violence intervention groups, clamp down on negligent gun dealers that flood cities with illegal guns, and strengthen federal gun safety measures. Instead, he is choosing to disseminate lies about crime designed chiefly to put more guns onto our streets.