Norton to Use Forum on Gun Trafficking to Mexico to Highlight Dangers of D.C. Gun Bill, Thursday

Norton to Use Forum on Gun Trafficking to Mexico to Highlight Dangers of D.C. Gun Bill, Thursday

Washington, DC--The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced today that Norton will use Thursday's Committee on Oversight and Government Reform forum on combating gun trafficking to Mexico to highlight how the D.C. gun bill would increase gun trafficking in the District. The forum will be held on Thursday, June 30 at 10 a.m. in the Capitol Visitor Center South Congressional Meeting Room - CVC 217. The witnesses include: Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY); Michael R. Bouchard, a former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Assistant Director of Field Operations; Kristen Rand, Legislative Director, Violence Policy Center; and Paul Helmke, President, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

The National Rifle Association (NRA)-backed D.C. gun bill, which forced the D.C. House Voting Rights Act off the House floor last Congress and has been reintroduced this year (H.R. 645), would, among other things, increase gun trafficking in the District. The bill would create a unique exception in a long-standing federal anti-trafficking law that prohibits individuals from crossing state lines to purchase handguns to allow D.C. residents to do so in Maryland and Virginia. Gun traffickers could use this exception to purchase large quantities of handguns, including assault pistols, in Maryland and Virginia and then bring them back into the District. "This federal anti-trafficking law has been in place since 1968, and the gun lobby appears to be using the D.C. gun bill as its first step in trying to overturn it," Norton said. "Just as the NRA has said it will use any opportunity to overturn D.C.'s gun laws, I will use every opportunity to inform Members of Congress and the administration about the dangers of the D.C. gun bill for D.C. residents and the federal presence here." A federal court has upheld the constitutionality of the District's new gun laws.

Norton and a coalition of 100 national and local groups have been working to prevent any new anti-home-rule riders, including the D.C. gun bill, from being added to the Fiscal Year 2012 D.C. Appropriations bill. The D.C. Appropriations bill, which would prohibit D.C. from using its local funds for abortions for low-income women, is expected on the House floor before the August recess. Prior to the House Appropriations Committee vote on the bill, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and other national groups sent a letter warning committee members that if they interfere with the city's local affairs, "we will make certain that our members - in every district - know how their representatives are spending their time in Washington: meddling in the affairs of D.C. residents rather than focusing on the nation's true, pressing business."

The D.C gun bill:

1. Permits the carrying of guns in public.
2. Repeals D.C.'s ban on large capacity ammunition feeding devices (i.e., magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds).
3. Repeals D.C.'s ban on assault weapons, including .50 caliber rifles.
4. Prohibits residential and commercial property owners from banning tenants from having guns on their property.
5. Bars D.C. from prohibiting guns in District owned or controlled buildings and structures that do not have certain security measures in place, which could include elementary schools and recreation centers, and D.C. cannot prevent private tenants of city owned or controlled buildings and structures from bringing guns into them, regardless of the security measures in place.
6. Repeals D.C.'s categories of prohibited possessors; for example, a person who was voluntarily committed to a mental institution could buy a gun.
7. Prevents D.C. from making changes to its gun laws in the future.
8. Repeals D.C.'s gun registration requirements.
9. Repeals D.C.'s limitation on the number of handguns that can be purchased per month.
10. Repeals D.C.'s 10-day waiting period to buy handguns or rifles. There would only be a 48-hour waiting period for handguns.
11. Repeals D.C.'s gun training requirements.
12. Repeals D.C.'s design safety standards for handguns.
13. Repeals D.C.'s requirement of microstamping for semiautomatic handguns.
14. Repeals D.C.'s requirement of ballistics testing for handguns.
15. Reduces penalties if a child is injured by a negligently stored gun.