New DC Gun Dealer Sees Business Boom After Overcoming City Roadblocks

A man who had to hire a lobbyist to help him navigate regulatory hurdles to become the first and only licensed Washington, D.C., gun dealer in nearly a year is now seeing business boom. 

Shawn Poulin, the owner of D.C. Security Associates, located on K Street in Northwest, said he had to spend thousands of dollars on a lobbyist to help navigate the city's complex rules and regulations on firearms businesses. "People told me, ‘Be prepared to deal with D.C. government, they're as corrupt as anyone else,'" he said. "I had to get a lobbyist and I was getting friction from the permit zoning guys." 

Mayor Muriel Bowser (D.) and the police department did not respond to questions about Poulin's difficulty in getting approval for his store. 

After pushing through the roadblocks and being approved to open in January, Poulin said his store has seen between 15 and 20 handgun transfers per day. The transfer process that saw some residents caught in a weeks-long wait when the Metropolitan Police Department ran it has been dramatically reduced. Poulin said the store has managed to help customers through the transfer and registration process, which at one point took months, in under 10 days.