New DC Gun Control Bill Moving In The U.S. House

[Cavalier Knight]

As the House Gets Ready to Vote on Repealing the DC Gun Ban
Your Representative now needs to hear from you

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

Monday, September 15, 2008

How quickly things can change.

Last week, the early reports indicated that the Childers bill to repeal the DC gun ban, HR 6691, was going to be a "cake walk" in the House of Representatives.

But now, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) has managed to get an alternative, anti-gun bill onto the floor of the House. Her bill passed out of committee last week on a whopping 17-1 vote. Every Republican on the committee except for Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) voted for the Norton bill.

The Norton bill would allow the DC council to continue enacting gun control, while the Childers bill (HR 6691) would repeal the ban on semi-auto pistols and rifles in DC, the registration requirements which require residents to get permission from the city council before they can own a weapon, and the lock-up-your-safety provision.

Representatives will now have a choice between the two bills and the fact that every Republican in the committee, except for one, voted for the Norton gun control bill is not a good sign.

ACTION: Please urge your Representative to vote IN FAVOR of the Childers bill (HR 6691) and to vote AGAINST the Norton gun control bill (HR 6842). You can use the pre-written message below and send it as an e-mail by visiting the GOA Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm (where phone and fax numbers are also available).

----- Pre-written letter -----

Dear Representative:

I am glad to see that the House is taking up HR 6691, a bill introduced by Mississippi Democrat Travis Childers. His bill would help enforce the recent Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Heller by repealing the gun ban in the District including the ban on semi-auto pistols and rifles, and the registration requirements which require residents to get permission from the city council before they can own a weapon.

The Childers bill will also strike the "trigger lock" provision which endangers gun owners by forcing the lucky ones who successfully jump through the 12-step process to render their guns unusable for immediate defensive purposes.

However, I strongly oppose the Norton gun control bill which would allow the District to continue passing gun control legislation. Please vote for HR 6691 and against the Norton compromise (HR 6842). Thank you.

Sincerely,

****************************

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[alemonkey]

Done. EVERYONE needs to contact their Representatives about this! There's no excuse for not doing it. I wrote my own letter to him, not through the GOA site:


Dear Representative Fortenberry:

I am writing to urge you to vote for HR 6691, introduced by Mississippi Representative Travis Childers. I feel this bill is vital to protecting the rights of law-abiding Americans by enforcing the recent Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Heller. The district's government continues to defy the Supreme Court's decision by enforcing unconstitutional restrictions on gun ownership such as banning self-loading rifles and pistols, and by requiring a registration process so onerous it is obviously meant to keep regular citizens from applying.

On a related issue, I feel the Norton gun control bill (HR 6842) is an extremely dangerous piece of legislation which must not be allowed to advance. This bill would allow the District to continue passing illegal and unconstitutional gun control legislation. Bills such as this endanger not only the Second amendment but the entire Bill of Rights, by allowing government to ignore any parts of the Constitution they disagree with.

I strongly urge you to vote for HR 6691 and against HR 6842.

Thank you,

 

[LAR-15]

Every Republican on the committee except for Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) voted for the Norton bill.

That is a lie


Most of the Republicans on the committee didn't bother to show up.

So how could they vote?

 

[novaDAK]

It still shows they don't give a damn about the 2nd amendment. If they were on our side, they would have been there to vote for us.

 

[LAR-15]

Why bother show up for Waxman's grandstanding?

Nortons bill has no chance of going anywhere and the Repubs know that

There was no reason for them to be there- but four of them were apparently

 

[dalepres]

Nortons bill has no chance of going anywhere and the Repubs know that

You must have missed the part in the article that said it passed in committee by 17 to 1.

 

[Nolo]

Uhhhh...
I don't think Steny Hoyer would really care if I wrote a letter to him or not...

 

[Moo 2 Drvr]

HR 6691 passes House of Representatives at 11:17 am

The Childers amendment replaced the original bill supported by DC and the revised bill passed the House of Representatives a few minutes ago.

Now on to the Senate!

 

[ctdonath]

How does this bill contrast with the new "emergency" legislation DC enacted? Semi-autos are legal (mags <= 10 rounds), multiple purchases/registrations are allowed (1/mo), "safe storage" is recommended instead of mandatory (unless children are demonstrably involved).

 

[damien]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,423962,00.html

House Passes Rules Easing D.C. Gun Restriction

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

WASHINGTON — The House moved Wednesday to compel the nation's capital to broaden the rights of its residents to buy and own firearms, including semiautomatic weapons.

Critics, led by the District of Columbia's sole delegate to Congress, decried the action. They said the vote tramples on the District's rights to govern itself and could endanger both residents and political dignitaries who so often travel across the city.

But the National Rifle Association-backed bill passed easily, 266-152, with supporters saying they were determined to give D.C. residents the same Second Amendment right of self-defense that has been available to other Americans.

Many of those speaking for the bill in debate that went well into the night Tuesday were conservative Democrats from rural districts that strongly support gun rights. Eighty-five Democrats voted for the bill.

"Number one, I'm a pro-gun Democrat," said Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark. "Number 2, if the government of the District of Columbia can take your guns away from you in our nation's capital, Prescott, Arkansas, and many other small towns across the country could be next."
The legislation is unlikely to be taken up in the Senate in the few remaining weeks of this session, but it served both to give lawmakers a pro-gun vote shortly before the election and demonstrate the continuing political clout of the NRA.

The bill, sponsored by Mississippi freshman Democrat Travis Childers, repeals the District's semiautomatic handgun ban and overturns D.C. law requiring that firearms kept in the home be locked up and inoperable. It allows D.C. residents to purchase guns from federally licensed dealers in Maryland and Virginia and repeals what critics claimed were burdensome registration requirements.

The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote last June, ruled that the 32-year-old District ban on handgun possession violated Second Amendment rights to bear arms. The D.C. Council responded the next month with a temporary measure allowing possession of unloaded weapons in homes but keeping the ban on semiautomatics.

On Tuesday the council went further, voting to allow residents to own most semiautomatic pistols and removing the requirement that weapons be stored unloaded and disassembled or secured with trigger locks.

That wasn't enough for the NRA and its congressional allies, which accused the council of trying to defy the Supreme Court ruling.

"This Congress has lost faith in the willingness of the District of Columbia to defend the Second Amendment," said Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind.

But nonvoting Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton said Congress was violating the District's home rule rights by imposing federal dictates, something it would do to no other American city. "The House has the gall to ask for a vote to nullify the gun laws in my district, depriving my district of the right to protect itself and visitors like yourselves while denying me a vote on this floor on passage. Have you no shame?"

Norton unsuccessfully tried to move a bill that would have merely given the District 180 days to come up with new regulations complying with the Supreme Court ruling. The White House opposed that approach and supported the Childers measure, saying it would "immediately advance Second Amendment principles."

"I ask Congress, leave us alone and let us do our job," D.C. Council member Carol Schwartz said Tuesday.

 

[LAR-15]

But nonvoting Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton said Congress was violating the District's home rule rights by imposing federal dictates, something it would do to no other American city.

Then quit supporting NATIONWIDE gun control.

Don't impose gun control in say Ohio if you do not want it imposed on DC

 

[7.62X25mm]

The NRA and other groups are seeking a writ of mandamus in Heller, along with judicial declaration and injunctive remedy. That's a legal way of saying that the judiciary will compell Wash. DC to comply with the order of SCOTUS.

 

[romma]

"The House has the gall to ask for a vote to nullify the gun laws in my district, depriving my district of the right to protect itself and visitors like yourselves while denying me a vote on this floor on passage. Have you no shame?"

You violate the civil rights of Americans... Talk about shame!

 

[physics]

How can I find out how my representatives voted?

 

[ctdonath]

From what I can glean, the bill still lets DC ban NFA items.

 

[Knucklehead2]

Physics, check the vote here:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll600.xml

 

[KBintheSLC]

U.S. v. Heller

I believe it was Heller vs. DC

I wrote to Congressman Matheson about these bills. He voted for H R 6842... I guess not all Dems are evil.

 

[OLD DOMENION]

Washington DC' on guns and "home rule"

If I lived in DC and had a 1911 I would have to apply for a Class III license?
Well they consider any semi-auto as a machine gun.
Congress should repeal Washington DC's ability to rule themselves and, let Congress do it