[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 153 (Thursday, September 25, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9441-S9442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             DC GUN RIGHTS

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise to talk about a very important 
issue, and that is gun rights, the second amendment gun rights for our 
country.
  As we are dealing with the financial stabilization program which is 
being negotiated, the continuing resolution, which will come over from 
the House shortly, we do have time to talk about some of the other 
issues that are so important for our country.
  I think the second amendment rights of people who live in the 
District of Columbia are very important. There was a Supreme Court 
case, a landmark ruling, that was made by the Supreme Court of the 
United States a couple months ago that said: The District of Columbia 
gun ban was unconstitutional.
  Many of us in Congress helped with an amicus brief, a brief to the 
Court signed by a majority of the Members of the House and the Senate, 
that asked that the Court overturn this DC gun ban because it was the 
most restrictive outright gun ban in all of America, and it clearly 
violated the rights of the people of the District of Columbia.
  The Court agreed. Now many of us who were hoping to pursue this right 
for the people of the District of Columbia, which is under the auspices 
of Congress, waited to see what the District City Council would do. We 
hoped they would do the right thing and adhere to the Supreme Court 
ruling, which affirmed that their ban on the ownership of handguns was 
unconstitutional.
  The District then came out with an almost incomprehensible ordinance 
that does continue to make it very difficult for someone to exercise 
their constitutional right to own a gun.
  The District allows registration of pistols for use in self-defense 
within the applicant's home. So it does not allow the ownership of a 
handgun in a person's business, to have self-defense in their business, 
but it does allow it in the home.
  But then the ordinance goes on to say that it is a policy of the 
District of Columbia that firearms should be stored unloaded and either 
disassembled or locked, which is the complete opposite result of the 
original ruling.
  I do not think anyone in America would consider an unlocked, unloaded 
gun to be potentially used for self-defense if someone is entering 
their home illegally.
  The firearm registration requirements are onerous. As a condition for 
registration, the District requires applicants to pay separate, 
unlimited fees for filing their registration, applicants have their 
mandatory fingerprints processed, and have their handguns run through a 
ballistic imaging process.
  What we are trying to do now is say you would have the ability to own 
a handgun for your personal use in your home for self-defense for you 
and your family. We also want to authorize DC residents to buy handguns 
from licensed dealers in Maryland or Virginia because, of course, there 
is only one gun dealer in the District of Columbia because there has 
been such a shortage of guns that a gun owner would sell because you 
could not have one.
  Because there is a current Federal law against interstate handgun 
sales, only Congress can authorize this. So the only way a person will 
have the ability to buy from a licensed dealer--and a licensed dealer 
must pass a record check by the National Instant Criminal Background 
Check System; all of that would be enforced, but we do need to have the 
ability for someone to have a reasonable place to go if they are going 
to buy a gun to protect themselves and their family.
  The bottom line is, as soon as we have representation on the floor by 
both parties, I intend to ask unanimous consent that we proceed to 
consideration of the bill. Now, the bill is H.R. 6842. It passed the 
House overwhelmingly last week. We want to take up that bill. In fact, 
I have a letter to Senator Reid signed by 47 Members of the Senate, and 
I am asking that be submitted for the Record.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the letter be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                               Washington, DC, September 19, 2008.
     Hon. Harry Reid,
     Majority Leader, U.S Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Leader Reid: On June 26, 2008. the Supreme Court 
     issued a landmark ruling affirming the Second Amendment right 
     to bear arms as an individual and constitutionally protected 
     right. In District of Columbia v. Heller. the court affirmed 
     that the District of Columbia's ban on ownership of handguns 
     was an unconstitutional restriction on that right. The 
     majority held ``that the District's ban on handgun possession 
     in the home violates the Second Amendment, as does its 
     prohibition against rendering any lawful firearm in the home 
     operable for the purpose of immediate self-defense.''
       For more than thirty years. the District of Columbia has 
     subjected residents to the most prohibitive gun control laws 
     of any city in the nation, requiring rifles and shotguns to 
     he registered, stored unloaded, and either locked or 
     disassembled. Despite the Court's ruling in June, the 
     District of Columbia city council has continued to exact 
     onerous and unconstitutional firearm regulations on law-
     abiding residents.
       This week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6842, 
     the National Capital Security and Safety Act. This bipartisan 
     bill was overwhelmingly approved with a vote 266-152. We ask 
     you to ensure that D.C. residents do not have to wait any 
     longer to realize their constitutional rights by allowing the 
     full Senate to consider H.R. 6842 before the 110th Congress 
     concludes.
           Sincerely,
         Kay Bailey Hutchison; Jon Tester; Saxby Chambliss; Judd 
           Gregg; Richard Burr, John Ensign; Johnny Isakson; John 
           E. Sununu; John McCain; Lisa Murkowski; Jim DeMint; --
           ----; Kit Bond; John Cornyn; Mike Enzi; Ted Stevens; 
           Orrin Hatch; Chuck Grassley; Max Baucus; Larry E. 
           Craig; Mel Martinez; Thad Cochran; Roger Wicker; Sam 
           Brownback; Lindsey Graham; Pat Roberts; John Thune; 
           Richard Shelby; Mike Crapo; David Vitter; John 
           Barrasso; Elizabeth Dole; George V. Voinovich; Pete V. 
           Domenici; Jim Inhofe; Wayne Allard; Norm Coleman; E. 
           Benjamin Nelson; Tim Johnson; Bob Corker; Lamar 
           Alexander; Jon Kyl; Gordon H. Smith; Olympia Snowe; 
           Susan M. Collins; Mary Landrieu, Mitch McConnell.

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Forty-seven of our Members have asked the majority 
leader to allow this bill to be taken up so we can pass it and send it 
to the President and assure that the people of the District of Columbia 
have the same second amendment right that is allowed to every other 
person in our country. So I would ask whether the Chair is able to 
speak for the majority

[[Page S9442]]

or if you prefer I wait for another person to come to the floor. I can 
do that or I can do it now.
  I will withhold. I ask unanimous consent that as soon as the leader 
is finished, I be recognized again to make my motion.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The Republican leader is recognized.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Texas.

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