Norton Blasts Senator Paul for Doubling Down Against His Own Principles in Another Effort to Eliminate D.C.’s Gun Safety Laws

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said that after Senator Rand Paul's (R-KY) attempt to eliminate the District of Columbia's gun safety laws was resoundingly defeated last night by a vote of 54-45, Paul is now shamefully resorting to procedural gimmicks to try to expedite consideration of his extreme D.C. gun bill. After his amendment failed last night, he began the Rule XIV process of placing his bill directly on the Senate calendar, allowing it to skip committee consideration and be brought directly to the floor by the Majority Leader. Norton said it will be lost on no one that Paul's desperation to keep treading on the District's local democratic rights is tied directly to his flagging presidential campaign. Norton said Paul has tried to grab even more attention by adding several national provisions to allow guns on secure locations, such as military installations and some federal property.

"Senator Rand Paul's hypocrisy apparently knows no bounds as he uses every trick in the book to have the federal government trample on the District's local rights," Norton said. "Paul's bill not only turns its back on his local control principles, but it would effectively turn the nation's capital into the Wild West at a time when mass shootings are occurring across the country. Senator Paul's desperate actions show he has turned to using his senatorial powers as an extension of his presidential campaign. I am confident that our Democratic allies in the Senate will once again reject this latest assault on the District's right to self-government."

Paul's bill contains the following provisions overturning D.C.'s gun safety laws: allows assault weapons; allows large capacity magazines; makes D.C. a shall issue concealed carry jurisdiction that must recognize out-of-state carry licenses; allows private sales and transfers without background checks; contains no waiting period to purchase; does not limit the number of guns that may be purchased; eliminates registration requirements; the only prohibited possessors would be those prohibited under federal law or by court order; a D.C. or out-of-state licensee may carry anywhere in D.C. except where a commercial or residential property owner prohibits possession or in a D.C. government building with certain security features, but no property owner may prohibit a lessee from possessing on the property; creates an exception to the federal Gun Free School Zones Act to permit an out-of-state licensee to carry in D.C. schools; and D.C. may not pass gun laws in the future beyond those in federal law.