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Norton Decries Insult and Insensitivity of Introduction of Bill to Eliminate All D.C. Gun Laws on One-Year Anniversary of Newtown Shooting

December 12, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that the reintroduction of the National Rifle Association (NRA)-backed bill (H.R. 3689) to wipe out D.C.'s gun laws, sponsored by Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH), this week, as the nation remembers the tragic Newtown shooting on its one-year anniversary, was an act of "insensitive disrespect." At the very least, the timing of the reintroduction demands an apology to the Newtown families, Norton said. The bill was introduced as Congress is about to recess for the holidays, until next year. Norton said that Jordan must have gone down his NRA checklist to make sure that the biyearly introduction of this anti-home-rule gun bill did not pass him by.

"It is bad enough that House Republicans continually reveal themselves to be hypocrites with repeated introduction of legislation to usurp the local autonomy of the District of Columbia despite their insistence on reducing the power of the federal government," Norton said. "The timing of this bill, as we remember the victims of the tragic Newtown shooting and their families, is especially insulting and out of line. With campaign season on the horizon, it is no surprise Representative Jordan would once again fall in line with the NRA, and even find a Democrat, Representative John Barrow (D-GA), to attempt to strip our local jurisdiction of our local laws, when both would be outraged at anything approaching federal interference in their districts. However, the NRA and their acolytes underestimate our residents if they think this city will tolerate autocratic rule from Congress, particularly on the life and death issue of gun safety, any more than the 4th district of Ohio or the twelfth district of Georgia would tolerate dictatorship from Congress on local matters."

The District revised its gun laws after the Supreme Court's 2008 Heller decision, and a federal appeals court upheld the constitutionality of most of the District's new gun laws, with some remanded back to the lower courts. After the NRA gun bill blocked Norton's D.C.'s voting rights bill in the 111th Congress, she was able to keep their stand-alone bill off the floor. The Jordan-Barrow bill is virtually identical to the Second Amendment Enforcement Act introduced in the 112th Congress by Jordan and Mike Ross (D-AR). The bill not only would wipe out the city's current gun safety laws, it would make the District one of the most permissive gun jurisdictions in the country, as it:

1. Permits the carrying of guns in public.

2. Repeals D.C.'s ban on large capacity ammunition feeding devices (i.e., magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds).

3. Repeals D.C.'s ban on assault weapons, including .50 caliber rifles.

4. Prohibits residential and commercial property owners from banning tenants from having guns on their property.

5. Bars D.C. from prohibiting guns in District owned or controlled buildings and structures that do not have certain security measures in place, which could include elementary schools and recreation centers, and D.C. cannot prevent private tenants of city owned or controlled buildings and structures from bringing guns into them, regardless of the security measures in place.

6. Repeals D.C.'s categories of prohibited possessors; for example, a person who was voluntarily committed to a mental institution could buy a gun.

7. Prevents D.C. from making changes to its gun laws in the future.

8. Creates the only exception to federal law by permitting D.C. residents to make handgun purchases in person outside their place of residency, in this case, in Maryland and Virginia.

9. Repeals D.C.'s gun registration requirements.

10. Repeals D.C.'s limitation on the number of handguns that can be purchased per month.

11. Repeals D.C.'s 10-day waiting period to buy handguns or rifles. There would only be a 48-hour waiting period for handguns.

12. Repeals D.C.'s gun training requirements.

13. Repeals D.C.'s design safety standards for handguns.

14. Repeals D.C.'s requirement of microstamping for semiautomatic handguns.

15. Reduces penalties if a child is injured by a negligently stored gun.

Published: December 12, 2013