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Norton Warns Residents of New Dangerous Massie D.C. Gun Amendment

July 16, 2014

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today alerted District of Columbia residents that Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) has filed a new amendment to the fiscal year 2015 District of Columbia Appropriations bill, which the House is debating now, that appears to prohibit the District of Columbia government from using its local fund to enforce almost all of its local gun laws, making D.C. one of if not the most permissive gun jurisdiction in the country. Massie filed the amendment after a similar amendment he offered last night fell on a point of order. Under the amendment, D.C. government employees, including the Metropolitan Police Department, could not enforce almost any local D.C. gun law.

"Representative Massie was not deterred by his embarrassing failure last night," Norton said. "Representative Massie, who first entered Congress in 2012, is trying to appeal to the far right wing and to get a national profile at the expense of the public safety of my constituents. D.C. is a big city that shares the same violence issues as all other big cities, but it is also the nation's capital, home to the president and countless federal and foreign officials who travel on our streets every day. Representative Massie, who claims at every turn to support local control of local affairs, is using the power of the federal government to overturn the laws of a local jurisdiction. Public safety is the most local of issues."

While we only recently received the amendment and are still reviewing it, the amendment appears to have the following effects. The D.C. government could not prevent:

  • The carrying of a gun, openly or concealed, on streets in the nation's capital
  • Assault weapons, including .50 caliber sniper rifles, from being possessed
  • Magazines holding an unlimited number of bullets from being possessed
  • The private sale of guns without background checks
  • The purchase of guns with no waiting period
  • The purchase of an unlimited number of guns in one day