Press Releases
Rep. Young Cosponsors, Votes for Bill To Give Back Second Amendment Freedoms to D.C.
Washington, D.C.,
September 18, 2008
Alaskan Congressman Don Young voted this morning in favor of H.R. 6842 the National Capital Security and Safety Act. This bill passed with a bipartisan majority of 266-152. On June 26, 2008, the United States Supreme Court overturned the ban on personal use firearms in the District of Columbia and ruled to uphold the Second Amendment Rights of citizens of the United States’ capital. Originally, H.R. 6842 would simply have required that the D.C. City Council comply with the Supreme Court Ruling, essentially leaving the door open for D.C. to make it as complicated as possible to acquire and own a gun, as they did in the original emergency legislation. Another bill, H.R. 6691 the Second Amendment Enforcement Act, which is cosponsored by Rep. Young, was much more specific in what needed to be done to comply with the ruling. A vote this morning allowed the text of H.R. 6691 to be substituted in to H.R. 6842, therefore making specific requirements of the District of Columbia. "I was incredibly pleased when the Supreme Court made it so that the freedoms created by the Second Amendment would also apply to all citizens in our Nation’s capital," said Rep. Young. "The original intent of the Second Amendment was to protect each individual’s right to keep and bear arms and it important that that be recognized. Now we have to come full circle, and this legislation allows that. "The bill passed by the District failed to comply with the Court’s ruling. It didn’t correct D.C.’s ban on semi-automatic pistols, it didn’t streamline a registration process, and most interestingly, it didn’t eliminate the ban on operable firearms in a home, which means that if an intruder is entering your home, you’d have to first assemble your firearm before using. I may be wrong, but I’m pretty sure an intruder is not going to sit idly by, while you put your gun together, for the sake of fair play. H.R. 6842 is an important step in direction of full freedoms for the citizens of D.C. and I am proud to have voted in favor of it." H.R. 6842 will: Conform D.C. gun laws to the requirements set out by the Supreme Court. The substitute amendment will repeal the city’s "pistol" ban, amend its separate ban on semi-automatic handguns, and repeal the city’s ban on operable firearms within the home. Reform the D.C.’s firearm registration system, which the District’s Emergency Bill makes even more complicated and intrusive. Firearm registration has no crime-prevention benefit, as demonstrated by the fact that nearly all firearms used in violent crimes in D.C. are not registered. Allow D.C. to enact regulations that do not prohibit or unduly burden the acquisition, possession or use of firearms for lawful purposes. Allow D.C. residents to buy handguns in Maryland or Virginia. Because there are no gun stores and one federally licensed firearm dealer who will perform handgun transfers in the District, the substitute amendment would change federal law to permit a D.C. resident to acquire a handgun from a federally licensed dealer in Maryland or Virginia. All sales would be subject to the National Instant Check System. Allow D.C. to prohibit the carrying of any firearm in public without a permit. Currently, while D.C. requires a permit to carry a handgun, no permit is required to carry a rifle or shotgun.
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