[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 19890]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  OPPOSITION TO RELAXING GUN CONTROL LAWS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

  (Mr. MORAN of Virginia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I have one question for those who 
want to strip D.C.'s elected Mayor and City Council of any ability to 
regulate firearms in our Nation's Capital: Are you insane?
  It is unbelievable that the House Republican leadership would push 
this kind of a bill. We are spending billions of dollars trying to 
protect our Nation's Capital from terrorists because we have the 
highest concentration of potential terrorist targets in our Nation's 
Capital, and you want to arm every D.C. resident with every firearm 
imaginable, from handguns to Uzis to AK-47s, and enable them to walk 
around our streets to go into churches, theaters, schools and public 
buildings?
  This is unbelievably irresponsible. I cannot believe that the 
Republican leadership would promote this kind of a bill, just to give 
the NRA the kind of vote that asserts its dominance over this House.
  Last year, the District of Columbia confiscated 1,982 firearms from 
criminals. This year, so far 1,400 have been taken from criminals 
because it is illegal to carry a gun here. Virtually all of them would 
be able to carry around those firearms without any regulation if this 
bill was passed.
  This is not the Wild West of the 19th Century. This is our Nation's 
Capital in the 21st Century. Please do the decent thing and defeat this 
radical affront to the citizens of our Nation's Capital.

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