District of Columbia

Genuinely ambiguous and worth flagging prominently. I fetched D.C. Code §22-4504 directly: it literally bans carrying a pistol 'either openly or concealed ... without a license,' which on its face suggests a license could authorize open carry. However, DC's licensing program is universally referred to as the 'Concealed Pistol License' (CPL), and I could not load MPD's or the DC AG's official CPL regulations pages this session (404/DNS errors) to confirm whether license conditions (commonly reported elsewhere as requiring concealment at all times) actually forbid open display. Treat this as unresolved rather than a confident 'no' — but do not assume 'yes' either; DC is widely reported as a jurisdiction where open carry is not practically available.

D.C. Code §7-2509.07(b)(2): carrying a concealed pistol into 'a church, synagogue, mosque, or other place where people regularly assemble for religious worship' is presumed PROHIBITED by default, unless the property is posted with conspicuous signage allowing concealed carry, or the owner/authorized agent personally communicates permission to the licensee in advance. Opt-in model, default no. Section added 2015, amended through April 21, 2023.

D.C. Code § 7-2509.07, confirmed directly from the DC Council's official code site: carrying a concealed pistol is prohibited on "any premises... where alcohol is served, or sold and consumed on the premises, pursuant to a license issued under Title 25," with only narrow exceptions (temporary licenses, caterer licenses, small-sample tasting permits) — a standard sit-down restaurant with an ordinary on-premises retailer's license (the common case) is not among the exceptions.

DC has issued a Concealed Carry License since 2017 (DC Code § 22-4506, MPD-administered), with a separate 'sensitive place' list (DC Code § 22-4504.02) I could not fully review in this research to confirm whether it touches waterways. DC's own navigable water is jurisdictionally unusual — much of the Potomac shoreline/riverbed adjacent to DC is historically Maryland's or under National Park Service control rather than DC's — making a confident district-specific answer genuinely hard to give without deeper legal research than was possible here.

D.C. Code §7-2509.07(a)(1) flatly bars anyone holding a DC concealed-carry license from carrying a pistol into 'a building or office occupied by the District of Columbia, its agencies, or instrumentalities' — no exception is listed for this category (unlike some of the statute's other entries, which carry notice-based enforcement limits). This reaches DC government offices/DMV-equivalent buildings and DC-run court facilities alike; separate federal law (18 U.S.C. §930) independently bars firearms in federal court buildings located in DC.

D.C. Code § 7-2509.07 prohibits concealed-pistol-license holders from carrying a handgun in the building and grounds (including adjacent parking) of any public or private college or university, with a narrow exception for briefly stopping to drop off/pick up a student if the firearm is secured before exiting the vehicle.

Directly checked D.C. Code § 7-2509.07(b)(3): 'On private property that is not a residence [carrying] shall be presumed to be permitted unless the property is posted with conspicuous signage prohibiting the carrying of a concealed pistol, or the owner or authorized agent communicates such prohibition personally to the licensee.' This is an explicit opt-out (default-allowed) rule for ordinary businesses — notably the opposite of DC's own rule for houses of worship, which are opt-in under the same section. DC's separate, lengthy list of specifically enumerated prohibited/sensitive locations is unaffected.

Verified directly from the official DC Metropolitan Police Department page (citing D.C. Code 7-2509.04 and 7-2509.07): 'DC concealed carry license holders are prohibited from carrying on PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY UNLESS AUTHORIZED by the property owner or person in control of the premises' — an explicit opt-in/'no' rule for residences, matching the question's core example. By contrast, the same source states licensees 'are PRESUMED TO BE PERMITTED to carry on NON-RESIDENTIAL private property unless' posted or told otherwise — an opt-out/'yes' rule for other private property. Because the question's category spans both a private residence (no) and private land (largely presumed yes if non-residential and unposted), DC genuinely splits on this question depending on the specific type of private property.

The District of Columbia has no commercial airport within its own borders — Reagan National (DCA) and Dulles (IAD) are both physically in Virginia (operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority; DCA carry there would be governed by Virginia law, which this research found bans carry throughout the whole airport terminal, see VA entry), and BWI is in Maryland. DC's own concealed-pistol-license restricted-locations statute (D.C. Code § 7-2509.07, confirmed directly from the official DC Code site) does not mention airports, Reagan National, or Dulles at all — which makes sense, since none are in DC. So the question as posed ('...in this state') doesn't map cleanly onto DC; a DC CCW holder's actual airport experience is governed by Virginia's (or Maryland's) law, not DC's.

DC generally requires a DC-issued carry license (shall-issue since the 2017 Wrenn v. DC ruling) to carry a handgun, including in a vehicle. Non-residents merely transporting a firearm through DC get a narrow exception if it is UNLOADED and either not readily accessible from the passenger compartment or in a locked container other than the glovebox/console, and they can show they're en route to a lawful destination where possession is legal — similar in spirit to the federal FOPA transport defense.

D.C. Code §7-2509.07(a) bars a concealed-carry license holder from 'a hospital, or an office where medical or mental health services are the primary services provided' — explicitly covers both hospitals and outpatient medical/mental-health offices, with no public/private carve-out in the text.

DC is shall-issue (post-Wrenn v. DC). DC Code §7-2509.07's prohibited-location list (government buildings, schools, hospitals, corrections, polling places, transit, licensed alcohol premises, stadiums, National Mall/federal sites) does not mention rest areas, and the law expressly contemplates licensees transporting a pistol in a vehicle. (Note: DC itself has no state-maintained interstate highway rest areas as such — the nearest analogues are in Maryland/Virginia — so this is somewhat theoretical for DC specifically.) Verified against the statute text directly.

D.C. Code § 7-2509.04(d) (D.C. Law 20-279): if an officer "initiates an investigative stop" of a licensee carrying a concealed pistol, the licensee "shall: (1) Disclose to the officer that he or she is carrying a concealed pistol; (2) Present the license and registration certificate; (3) Identify the location of the concealed pistol; and (4) Comply with all lawful orders," including a pat-down. Violation subjects the license to revocation. Proactive duty triggered by the stop.

DC MPD issues Concealed Carry Pistol Licenses (CCPL) to both residents and non-residents under Title 24, DCMR Ch. 23. However, an applicant who has no DC residence or place of business must already hold a valid carry permit from their own state of residence, and any firearm carried must first be registered with MPD in the District.

Verified against the official D.C. Council Code: D.C. Code §7-2509.07 flatly bars even a DC concealed carry LICENSE holder from carrying on the building/grounds of a childcare facility, preschool, public/private K-12 school, or college/university — so actual school-property carry is a clear 'no' even for licensees. Separately, §22-4502.01 designates the area within 1,000 feet of a school (among other places) as a 'gun free zone' carrying an enhanced penalty for illegal carry there, but that section specifically exempts 'a person legally licensed to carry a firearm in the District of Columbia who lives or works within 1000 feet' from the ENHANCED penalty — consistent with the federal buffer-zone licensing exception, though DC's own carry-license process itself remains restrictive and subject to many other place-based bans.

Could not locate a live, reliable source describing DC's specific rule for posted 'no firearms' signs at private businesses (as opposed to DC's separate list of statutory 'sensitive place' prohibitions, which is a different question). Given DC's historically stringent gun regulation, an incorrect guess here carries unusually high risk, so this is marked unclear rather than assumed.

Not a state/local-preemption scenario in the usual sense: the District of Columbia IS the local government — there are no sub-DC municipalities (wards are administrative, not independent lawmaking bodies) — so the DC Council/DC Code (Title 7, Ch. 25 and Title 22, Ch. 45, enforced by MPD) is by definition the sole, uniform source of firearm/concealed-carry law citywide. There is no separate city within DC that could impose its own stricter rule.

D.C. Code § 7-2509.07(a)(5) bars a licensed pistol carrier from carrying at 'a polling place while voting is occurring.'

10-round limit, D.C. Code § 7-2506.01. A three-judge D.C. Court of Appeals panel ruled the ban unconstitutional in Benson v. United States (March 5, 2026), but the full court granted rehearing en banc on April 22, 2026, which vacated the panel decision and restored the ban pending re-argument (no argument date set as of the sources reviewed). Currently back in effect/enforced, but under very active litigation.

Extreme Risk Protection Order, D.C. Code § 7-2510.01 et seq. (2018). Petitioners: relatives/household/dating partners of the respondent, any sworn law enforcement officer in D.C., and mental health professionals.

DC is one of the most restrictive jurisdictions for NFA items. DC Code §§7-2506.01 and 22-4514 criminalize possession of a machine gun, sawed-off shotgun, and any device to silence/muffle a firearm's report. Exceptions apply only to on-duty military/law enforcement — NO exception for a civilian who has completed the federal NFA process. Machine guns (including pre-1986 transferable ones) and suppressors are flatly illegal even with a federal tax stamp. 'Short barreled rifle' is defined in DC Code §7-2501.01 but not named in the possession-ban list; however DC's mandatory individual firearm registration scheme does not appear to accommodate NFA configurations, so in practice there is no viable lawful path to SBR possession either.

No statute. United States v. Peterson, 483 F.2d 1222 (D.C. Cir. 1973) upheld a jury instruction that failure to retreat, when it could have been done with safety, is a factor the jury may weigh in judging whether the force used was excessive — not an absolute bar, but a real, required retreat consideration in public. The 'castle' doctrine discussed in Peterson removes that consideration inside one's own home. No duty at home; retreat-opportunity must be weighed elsewhere (functionally a duty).

D.C. Code Ann. §§ 7-2502.03, 7-2505.02 require every firearm in the District to be registered with MPD, and registration itself requires passing a background check; there is no lawful path to complete a private transfer without going through this vetted registration process.