Norton Blasts Massie and Palmer for Filing Amendments to Overturn D.C. Gun Safety Laws and Protections for D.C. LGBT Students in Wake of Orlando Attack

WASHINGTON, D.C.—With Americans still mourning the loss of 49 individuals in last week’s mass shooting at a gay night club in Orlando, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said that two Members of Congress have virtually targeted the LGBT community again by filing amendments to the fiscal year 2017 District of Columbia appropriations bill, scheduled to go to the House floor this week, that would strip LGBT students in D.C. of protections from discrimination and would eliminate several D.C. gun safety laws. Representative Gary Palmer (R-AL) filed an amendment that capsulizes bigotry by blocking D.C. from enforcing its Human Rights Amendment Act (HRAA), which repealed a congressionally-imposed rider that permitted schools in D.C. to deny LGBT students equal access to school facilities and services based on their sexual orientation. Palmer’s amendment further condones discrimination by blocking D.C. from enforcing its Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act (RHNDA), which prohibits employers in D.C. from discriminating against an employee, spouse or dependent based on their reproductive health decisions. Last year, the House voted to overturn RHNDA through a disapproval resolution, the first such vote to overturn a D.C. law in almost 25 years, but the resolution died in the Senate.

Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY), who tried but failed on the House floor in 2014 to eliminate D.C.’s gun safety laws, is back at it again with two gun amendments—one to allow people to carry guns, openly or concealed, in the District without a license, and another to eliminate D.C.’s enhanced penalties for carrying a firearm in gun-free zones. D.C.’s gun-free zone provision provides enhanced penalties for carrying a gun in or near a public or private day care center, elementary school, vocational school, secondary school, college, junior college, or university, or any public swimming pool, playground, video arcade, youth center, or public library, or in and around public housing.

“With no regard for families in Orlando who are still in shock, Representatives Palmer and Massie are shamelessly using the D.C. appropriations bill to act out discrimination and personal gun preferences at the expense of D.C. residents,” Norton said. “Instead of promoting discrimination against D.C.’s LGBT students, Representative Palmer should have the decency to support the devastated LGBT community after last week’s heinous hate crime and terrorist attack. Representative Massie recklessly envisions people carrying, openly or concealed, guns in the nation’s capital, risking the lives not only of our residents, but of the countless high-profile national and global figures who frequent our streets and public places. After Sandy Hook, it is difficult to understand Representative Massie’s rationale for encouraging anyone to carry guns near schools, recreation centers, and other places where children and parents gather. I will fight to keep these undemocratic and abhorrent amendments from coming to the House floor.”