Anyway, to continue. Ever since then, DC has been trying to modify their laws as little as possible in order to maintain the maximum amount of restrictions on gun rights. Two bills have been introduced in Congress to correct that.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/28/federal-bills-would-repeal-dc-gun-laws/
Federal lawmakers Tuesday introduced bills into the House and Senate that would repeal most of the local gun laws in Washington, D.C.
The bills introduced Tuesday would eliminate gun-registration requirements in the city and prevent the mayor and the D.C. Council from adopting laws prohibiting gun ownership.
It would also bar city officials from enacting laws that would prohibit guns from being carried in public places (whether concealed or openly brandished), that would diminish the authority of the city's police chief to deny concealed-carry licenses, or that would prohibit city leaders from preventing guns from being taken into city buildings.
In other words, the bills would establish very open gun rights in DC and not permit the DC Council from changing that. And they have the power... Congress has the responsibility of overseeing Washington DC government.
Personally, I think the laws might reach a little far. While I think that licensed gun owners SHOULD be allowed to carry into government buildings, that's not something that is allowed in most states. Overall, the bills are good, but I think that provision specifically is being viewed as a little extreme. And if they're viewed that way, then they won't pass.
And they SHOULD pass. Washington DC should be a shining example of freedom and responsibility, not a blueprint for totalitarian rule.
I will offer this observation...having been in the DC area for 110-odd days (but who's counting).
ReplyDeleteYou have a political contingent of folks...mostly all Democrat and low-income representation who believe the killing statistics in DC are all caused by an abundance of guns. You remove guns, and the problem disappears. They've been told this over and over...so the locals tend to buy into this argument.
So the murders dropped a bit, and then bottomed out.
Over the past four months...it's an obvious thing on how these occur. It's always after sundown when someone is shot. Typically, it never involves a wife shooting a husband or vice-versa. And those guys caught? Usually under the age of twenty-five.
A guy driving anywhere outside of the capital district after 10PM...is an idiot. A guy riding the Metro train after 10PM within the district has to travel with two or more folks. And usually by 3PM...you are pretty safe (I've yet to see a shooting after 3PM).
For any national capital on the face of the Earth...to stand there and publicly accept 186 murders a year...is a joke. If Berlin had that many...the chief of police would resign, and they'd double the police force.
So yeah, DC is unsafe except for daylight hours. That really says alot.