I've been reading their bile for years and haven't seen them this fired up since prior to the AWB expiring.
The spin, hysteria, twisting of facts/words is too numerous to highlite or make specific comments on... the whole thing is laughable.
What's not funny though is the typical Brady hypocrisy... if Fenty/DC had actually complied with the Supreme Courts ruling, this legislation wouldn't
have been proposed.
The gun grabbers threw down the gauntlet... now they're about to get smacked in the face with it.
http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/release.php?release=1005
http://www.bradycampaign.org/xshare/pdf/fedleg/HR6691-summary.pdf
The Washington Post chimes in...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/07/AR2008090701982.html
The spin, hysteria, twisting of facts/words is too numerous to highlite or make specific comments on... the whole thing is laughable.
What's not funny though is the typical Brady hypocrisy... if Fenty/DC had actually complied with the Supreme Courts ruling, this legislation wouldn't
have been proposed.
The gun grabbers threw down the gauntlet... now they're about to get smacked in the face with it.
News Release
Brady Campaign Urges
Opposition To Bill That Would
Allow Assault Rifles On D.C. Streets
For Immediate Release:
09-08-2008
Contact Communications:
(202) 898-0792 Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
Washington, D.C. - The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence sent a letter today urging federal security agencies to oppose gun lobby-backed legislation that the House of Representatives will be discussing this week. The bill, H.R. 6691, would extinguish virtually all gun regulations in the nation’s Capital, allowing the open carrying of assault rifles and .50 caliber sniper rifles on the streets of Washington, and putting government officials, foreign dignitaries, and tourists at grave risk of harm.
H.R. 6691 would eliminate many of Washington D.C.’s existing gun laws, and would bar the District Government from enacting any new gun laws that might “discourage” gun ownership. It would enable citizens in D.C. to purchase AK-47s and other semiautomatic military-style assault rifles anywhere in the country where they’re legal, transport them into the nation's Capital and carry them in public. It would permit individuals to legally own .50 caliber sniper rifles accurate up to more than a mile and effective up to four miles, and it would make it more difficult to break up gun trafficking operations based in the District. The bill would gravely impair law enforcement’s ability to protect the nation’s Capital, and the people who work and visit there. While the bill is ostensibly a response to the Supreme Court’s recent Second Amendment decision in D.C. v. Heller, it rejects limitations that the court described as “presumptively lawful.”
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence today sent a letter to Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Attorney General Michael Mukasey; FBI Director Robert Mueller and Mark Sullivan, Director of the U.S. Secret Service, urging them to oppose the legislation on national security grounds. “To allow the streets of Washington to be flooded with weapons of war and other firearms is a homeland security nightmare,” Brady President Paul Helmke wrote.
“The D.C. government took immediate action after the Supreme Court’s ruling to comply with the requirements of that ruling, and D.C. officials are now well into the next phase of response to that ruling,” Helmke said today. “Congress should give the DC government a fair chance to do its job. This bill is a rejection of the limitations approved in Justice Scalia’s majority opinion. It would make our nation’s Capital decidedly less safe just as we are preparing to inaugurate a new President.”
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is scheduled to hold a hearing on the subject tomorrow, Tuesday, September 9, and then a markup on September 10.
http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/release.php?release=1005
SWEEPING BILL TO REPEAL D.C. GUN LAWS WOULD ENDANGER PUBLIC
SAFETY AND THREATEN HOMELAND SECURITY
The House may soon consider legislation, H.R. 6691, which would repeal D.C. gun laws
and undermine federal gun laws. The bill’s sweeping scope goes far beyond authorizing gun
possession for self-defense in the home. Instead, it would create serious new threats to public
safety and national security, even allowing the carrying of loaded semi-automatic assault
rifles in downtown Washington and legalizing .50 caliber sniper rifles that can pierce
armored cars.
BACKGROUND
H.R. 6691 was introduced following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in District of
Columbia v. Heller that D.C.’s ban on handguns in the home for self-defense was
unconstitutional. Justice Scalia’s majority opinion in Heller, however, was narrow and limited.
He specifically noted that a wide range of gun laws are “presumptively lawful” – everything
from laws “forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places” to “conditions and
qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.”
After Heller, D.C. passed temporary, emergency regulations to comply with the Supreme
Court ruling, and the plaintiff in the case, Dick Heller, was approved by the city to keep a gun in
his home. D.C. is currently developing permanent regulations to adapt all of its gun laws to the
Court’s ruling.
Instead of giving D.C.’s elected officials a fair and reasonable opportunity to enact
permanent regulations, the gun lobby is pushing Congress to enact dangerous and sweeping
legislation that goes far beyond the mandates of Heller. H.R. 6691 would bar the city from
enacting measures to curb gun crime, allow the carrying of military-style rifles on D.C. streets,
and weaken federal anti-gun trafficking laws.
H.R. 6691 would endanger not only D.C. residents but also all those who work in and
visit the capital. At a time when terrorists continue to look for ways to attack our nation,
enacting H.R. 6691 would be reckless and irresponsible. Congress should reject this
dangerous and foolhardy measure.
DETAILS OF H.R. 6691
• Allowing military-style weapons on D.C. streets – H.R. 6691 would repeal D.C.’s
ban on semi-automatic weapons, including assault weapons, as well as D.C.’s
requirement that guns be kept locked and unloaded (with some exceptions in D.C.
law such as allowing guns to be unlocked for self-defense in the home) (H.R. 6691
§§ 4, 7). It also prohibits D.C. from enacting any law discouraging gun use or
possession, such as a ban on carrying assault weapons in public (H.R. 6691 § 3). The
effect of these changes is that H.R. 6691 allows the carrying of loaded, military-style
semiautomatic assault rifles on D.C. streets. It would allow the possession of .50
caliber sniper rifles that can pierce armored car plating. It would even allow
teenagers and children to carry loaded assault rifles by repealing all age
restrictions on the possession of long guns (H.R. 6691 § 5(b)(1)). This means that
law enforcement could not stop anti-government protesters armed with assault
rifles or .50 caliber sniper rifles from patrolling near federal buildings or
motorcade routes.
• Undermining federal anti-gun trafficking laws – H.R. 6691 would allow D.C.
residents to cross state lines to buy handguns in neighboring states, thereby
undermining federal anti-gun trafficking laws (H.R. 6691 §10). For decades, federal
law has barred gun dealers from selling handguns directly to out of state buyers (other
than licensed dealers) because of the high risk this creates for interstate gun
trafficking (18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(3)). This means that gun traffickers could more
easily obtain large quantities of guns outside D.C. to illegally distribute to
criminals in D.C.
• Prohibiting D.C. from enacting common sense gun laws – H.R. 6691 would bar
D.C. from passing any law that would “prohibit, constructively prohibit, or unduly
burden” gun ownership by anyone not barred by already weak federal gun laws
(H.R. 6691 § 3). It would even bar D.C. from enacting laws or regulations that may
“discourage” private gun ownership or use, including by felons, children or other
dangerous persons (Id.). This means that D.C. could not pass laws requiring
shooting proficiency to use a gun, educating parents of the dangers to children of
guns in the home, or even restricting gang members without criminal records
from carrying loaded assault rifles on D.C. streets.
• Repealing common sense restrictions on gun possession by dangerous or
unqualified persons – H.R. 6691 repeals common sense restrictions on gun
possession in D.C. including:
o repealing the prohibition on most persons under age 21 from possessing firearms
(H.R. 6691 § 5(b)(1)). It replaces current D.C. law with weaker federal limits that
only bar anyone under 18 from possessing handguns (18 U.S.C. §922(x)), and it
repeals all age limits for the possession and carrying of long guns, including
assault rifles.
o repealing the prohibition on gun possession by anyone who has committed a
violent crime or recent drug crime (H.R. 6691 § 5(b)(1)). It replaces this current
D.C. law with the weaker federal ban that allows gun possession by many
persons who have committed violent or drug-related misdemeanor crimes
unrelated to domestic violence.
o repealing the prohibition on gun possession by anyone voluntarily committed to a
mental institution in the last 5 years (unless they have a doctor’s certification)
(H.R. 6691 § 5(b)(1)). It replaces this current D.C. law with the weaker federal
ban that allows many persons who are dangerously mentally ill to obtain
firearms.
o repealing the prohibition in D.C. law on gun possession by anyone who does not
pass a vision test, including if they are blind (H.R. 6691 § 5(b)(1)). D.C. would
be barred from having any vision requirement for gun use.
• Repealing registration requirements for firearms – H.R. 6691 repeals even the
most basic gun registration requirements (H.R. 6691 § 5). This means that police
could no longer easily trace crime guns by tracing them to their registered
owner.
• Repealing all safe storage laws – After Heller, D.C. passed emergency legislation
allowing guns to be unlocked for self-defense but otherwise locked to keep guns from
children and dangerous persons. H.R. 6691 repeals all safe storage requirements and
prohibits D.C. from enacting new safe storage laws, even though every major gun
maker recommends that guns be kept unloaded and locked (H.R. 6691 §§ 3, 7). This
means that D.C. could not prohibit people from storing loaded firearms near
children, posing an extreme danger to the safety of D.C. families.
http://www.bradycampaign.org/xshare/pdf/fedleg/HR6691-summary.pdf
The Washington Post chimes in...
The House's Stickup
Democrats agree to consider legislation stripping the District of the right to regulate guns.
HOUSE DEMOCRATS make much of their support for the right of the District to self-government. Too bad they are willing to sacrifice this basic tenet of American democracy to the political self-interests of members cowed by the powerful gun lobby. How else to explain a planned vote on legislation so extreme it would strip the District of all power to regulate guns? Since appeals for home rule don't appear to be persuasive these days, let's hope that concern about safety and security in the nation's capital kills this bad bill.
H.R. 6691 is the latest effort by the National Rifle Association to wrest jurisdiction over local gun legislation from the District's elected officials. It comes as city officials are in the midst of formulating permanent legislation to comply with the landmark Supreme Court ruling overturning the city's long-standing ban on handguns. Sponsors of the measure, 47 conservative Democrats and five Republicans, say that D.C. officials can't be trusted and so they are acting to ensure Second Amendment rights for city residents. It's a maddening argument considering that none of those who signed on to the bill would ever stomach letting Congress dictate local law to their constituents.
Equally troubling is that the bill goes beyond the scope of the ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller authorizing gun possession for self-defense in the home. The majority opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia specified that a range of gun regulations are "presumptively lawful." But, if sponsors of H.R. 6691 have their way, the District would be barred from passing any law that would "prohibit, constructively prohibit, or unduly burden" gun ownership by anyone not barred by existing (and weak) federal gun laws. That would mean that the District couldn't require a vision test or shooting proficiency or education about gun safety for children. Gun registration would be abolished, as would the ban on carrying weapons -- even military-style rifles -- in public. It's a scary scenario in a city where political protests, presidential motorcades and visits by foreign dignitaries are routine.
The only reason this bill has advanced is because the NRA has threatened to withhold endorsements from conservative Democrats in tough races this year. Faced with a threat by Democrats to sign on to a Republican effort to bring a similar measure straight to the floor, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) caved in to demands for a hearing tomorrow before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. But it's not too late for the House leadership to decide they have better things to do than rewriting the D.C. Code -- and usurping the rights of city residents.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/07/AR2008090701982.html
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