Norton Says D.C.’s ‘Good Reason’ Requirement is in Line with Previously-Upheld Gun Safety Standards, Believes it Has a Good Chance of Prevailing on Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released the following statement on the decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to block enforcement of the D.C.'s "good reason" requirement for issuing concealed-carry permits.

"Today's decision invalidating D.C.'s ‘good reason' requirement for concealed carry permits flies in the face of all other federal appeals courts that have considered similar requirements. If appealed to the full Circuit Court, I believe the chances are excellent that this decision will be overturned, with the recognition that the District's requirement is in line with other gun safety legislation that has survived court attacks. Despite today's ruling, it is clear that the courts are the proper venue to resolve this issue, not in Congress, where Members scramble to undemocratically impose their own ideological views on the District. For example, Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) acknowledged today's decision enough to sanction it, thereby conceding the courts as the appropriate avenue. Yet he continues to abuse congressional power with his legislation to impose concealed carry reciprocity on the District. In addition, Massie keeps ducking taking action, well within his power, to file an amendment or introduce a bill to allow guns to be carried on the ground and in the buildings of the U.S. Capitol Complex, or in federal buildings in his district. If he is such a strong supporter of concealed carry, why not fight to allow his constituents to carry in the Capitol, rather than singling out the District of Columbia, while carving out a special exception for his workplace?"

Massie missed yesterday's deadline to file an amendment to the fiscal year 2018 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill, which is scheduled to be considered on the House floor this week, to overturn the federal ban on bringing guns onto the U.S. Capitol grounds.

Massie's repeated attempts to overturn D.C.'s gun safety legislation have consistently misfired. Massie has introduced a bill (H.R. 2909) to require the District of Columbia to recognize out-of-state permits to carry concealed guns, regardless of the state standards for issuing such permits, and has tried to block D.C. from spending its local funds to enforce some or all of its gun safety laws, including its concealed and open carry laws, through four amendments to the D.C. Appropriations bill since he first came to Congress, in 2012. Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep Tom Garrett (R-VA) have introduced a bill (S. 162/H.R. 1537) to eliminate almost all of D.C.'s gun safety laws.