Updated: July 31, 2014 at 12:01 p.m.

A federal judge has given D.C. three months to respond to his ruling that struck down the city’s ban on carrying registered handguns in public.

U.S. District Judge Frederick Scullin had ruled Saturday that the law violated the Second Amendment. The decision overturned the last ban of its kind in the U.S. and came after a five-year wait that frustrated the law’s opponents.

The Office of the Attorney General asked for a stay while the city appealed the decision, or for 180 days so the D.C. Council could collect public input and pass legislation, the DCist reported Tuesday. The judge granted a stay until Oct. 22, and city legislators are on recess this month.

If an appeal fails, the Metropolitan Police Department would no longer be able to arrest individuals, including visitors to the District, for carrying a gun in public as long as they have a valid permit.

The case first began in 2008, a year after the Supreme Court struck down the District’s blanket ban on handguns. The city then passed laws requiring residents to register their guns and keep them in their homes in addition to taking a gun safety course, re-registering their weapons every three years and submitting photographs and fingerprints for police records.

Scullin said his decision was based on the same 2008 Supreme Court decision and a similar ruling that discontinued a handgun ban in Chicago in 2010.