DC congresswoman takes swipe at Schweikert, wants gun control local
District of Columbia Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is fuming mad at Arizona Congressman David Schweikert claiming that his bill to force D.C. to recognize out-of-state permits to carry concealed guns, was a stunt to meant to appeal to the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the pro-gun lobby.
“While the nation seeks to come together to find common-sense steps to reduce gun violence, Rep. David Schweikert has reached beyond his own district to meddle in mine,” Norton said. “Allowing more concealed guns on the streets of the nation’s capital, which is frequented not only by our residents, but also by high-level federal officials and foreign dignitaries, would be insane. Under constitutional principles of local control in our country, each district must decide local matters for themselves, not federal officials. I do not think Rep. Schweikert’s constituents sent him to Washington to interfere with the local prerogatives of someone else’s district, and I doubt that this bill is a priority for his constituents. Maintaining our local carry permit law is a priority for me, and I am prepared to defeat this anti-home-rule bill and protect D.C.’s narrowly tailored carry law in order to keep our residents safe.”
Holmes Norton claims that Schweikert’s bill is the latest Republican effort in the 114th Congress to overturn D.C.’s gun laws. Holmes Norton accuses Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) of introducing a bill that would “wipe out almost all of the D.C.’s local gun safety laws, including its ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines and its registration requirements, and prohibit D.C. from passing gun laws in the future.”
Holmes Norton figuratively put on a tin foil hat and alleged that Rubio’s motive for introducing his bill was “undisguised.” She noted in the statement she released that the “NRA raised his rating from a B-plus to an A almost immediately after he introduced his anti-local-control gun bill.” She also sees Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) as an enemy for introducing “an amendment to eliminate D.C.’s gun laws to the Senate’s budget reconciliation bill, which failed, and then introduced it as a standalone bill, which has not been brought to the Senate floor.”
Schweikert has appeared to be making an effort to steer attention to himself lately, but many say this “stunt” was not likely to be part of that effort.
According to Townhall.com, Schweikert’s “D.C. Personal Protection Reciprocity Act will do three main things:
1) require D.C. to recognize out of state concealed carry permits
2) require D.C. to approve concealed carry applications of recently relocated individuals who lawfully hold concealed carry permits in the states where they moved from
3) require the D.C. chief of Police, currently Chief Cathy Lanier, to enter into reciprocity agreements with all state”