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Norton to Fight Another Rubio Bill Wiping Out D.C.’s Gun Safety Laws

January 18, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has reintroduced a National Rifle Association (NRA)-backed bill that would wipe out almost all of the District of Columbia's local gun safety laws, including its ban on assault weapons, large capacity magazines, and its registration requirements, and prohibit D.C. from passing gun laws in the future. Norton said Rubio's bill to wipe out the city's gun laws ironically was introduced the same month that signs were posted for the first time at the entrances of congressional office buildings indicating that guns are prohibited in the Capitol Complex. She said Republican efforts to eliminate D.C.'s local gun safety laws, while taking extra efforts to ensure their own safety by barring guns from the entire Capitol Complex, show no respect for the safety of the 680,000 D.C. residents and the nearly 20 million people who visit the nation's capital each year. Rubio has previously used the District's gun safety laws as fodder to raise his political profile. In 2015, Rubio introduced the same NRA-backed D.C. gun bill just before announcing his candidacy for president, leading the NRA to upgrade Rubio's rating from a B-plus to an A.

"Senator Rubio is protected by the gun ban in the Capitol Complex, yet he believes gun safety laws should not be available to D.C. residents and visitors to the nation's capital," Norton said. "We intend to keep Senator Rubio from walking right over the principle of local control over local affairs while he uses federal authority to overturn the District's duly-enacted local laws. As the nation's capital, we have enacted gun safety laws that match the needs of our unique local jurisdiction, which hosts high-profile events, such as this week's Presidential Inauguration, and houses high-profile federal officials and foreign dignitaries. Senator Rubio should stop trampling on D.C. home rule and focus on the needs of his own constituents."

Last Congress, Norton defeated eight attempts to overturn or block D.C.'s gun safety laws.