Norton Was on Lockdown in the Capitol, Gives Kudos to Capitol Police

Statement

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today was among those who were locked down after shots were fired in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. She was unable to leave the Capitol complex to teach her seminar at Georgetown University Law Center, and postponed her class in an email to students.

"The U.S. Capitol Police deserve tremendous credit for disposing of today's shooting incident within an hour's time through quick action and a shelter-in-place directive, which was lifted expeditiously after the suspect was taken into custody," Norton said. "I particularly thank the Capitol Police for trying to help me get to my seminar in time, but I fully appreciate the precautions that needed to be taken. The Capitol Police clearly showed they were prepared. Officers have received plaudits from visitors, who had to be evacuated from the Capitol Visitor Center, for the professional way they handled the incident. It was first-class policing.

"Today's incident should caution Members of Congress who repeatedly try every year to overturn all of the District's gun safety laws. Because of our gun laws, most guns found in the District come from other states, especially southern jurisdictions. Particularly after Brussels, we should be doing all we can to maintain the District's gun safety laws, not dismantle them. We cannot keep every individual from bringing a gun into D.C. from elsewhere, but bills that stimulate more guns in the nation's capital would only make the job of the Capitol Police harder and the city more vulnerable to gun shooting incidents."

Norton has defeated every attempt to overturn D.C.'s gun safety laws during the 114th Congress. In January, Representative David Schweikert (R-AZ) introduced a bill to force D.C. to recognize out-of-state permits to carry concealed guns, regardless of the standards those states use for issuing permits. Last year, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) introduced 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 safety laws in the future. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced 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.

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