It took decades of activism for DC residents to even regain basic civil rights, such as the right to keep handguns in the home.

I've lived in DC since 1999. I'll be charitable and say that this comment is misleading at best. It might be very narrowly and technically correct to say that there have been "decades of activism" on the subject, but it's about on the level of that one guy who sits in a tent in front of the White House every day. The overwhelming majority of DC residents were in favor of the law.