DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PERSONAL PROTECTION ACT -- (House of Representatives - September 29, 2004)
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Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise in outraged opposition to H.R. 3193, the so-called District of Columbia Personal Protection Act. This bill strips away gun safety laws passed by the City Council here in our Nation's capital. It allows people in DC to buy assault weapons and use "cop-killer" bullets. It overturns laws that ban criminals from owning guns.
Mr. Speaker, the internal contradictions and extremism of this bill say a lot about the Republican majority's desperation to please the National Rifle Association shortly before the election. In order to chock up a vote for the NRA scorecard, Republicans play lip service to States' rights and local control while nullifying laws passed by the elected leaders of DC.
Do the people of Washington, DC want their gun laws repealed? Not on you life.
Residents of DC will be less safe, but who cares say the Republicans. They've got to reward the NRA for millions in campaign contributions dumped into their reelection coffers. They have no shame.
Consider the parents of the 16 DC children killed by guns this year. They have to relive their nightmare every day and now the tragedy of more children murdered by guns and more parents mourning as assault weapons again rule the streets. Their wishes are being dishonored and stripped away today. Their calls for safe streets ignored. Their hope for safer neighborhoods-gone. All capriciously taken away by Republicans and the NRA.
I bet these parents, like any other parent in any community across this Nation, wish they had the same grip over their local gun laws as the National Rifle Association.
The 230 cosponsors of this legislation work in a building where guns are banned. Every visitor has to pass through a metal detector. Millions have been spent on Homeland Security upgrades in and around the Capitol. Yet, they foolishly think the Global War on Terror stops at the banks of the Potomac. Or maybe they figure they're safe behind the barricades and armed police so why worry about gun laws that protect other people who life in this city?
If you're worried about your safety in some of the most dangerous neighborhoods just blocks from the Capitol, here's the Republicans' message to you: buy an AK-47 and pray that you're a better shot than the other guy. Never mind studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine that conclude that guns kept in the home for self-protection triple the risk of homicide, and are 43 times more likely to kill a family member or friend than an intruder.
Any member of this body who feels safer because of the extensive gun control here in the Capitol Building has an obligation to vote against this bill so that the people of DC have the same right to control their personal safety. If you vote for a firearms free-for-all in Washington, DC, then you should have the decency to introduce legislation allowing assault weapons right here, in your own workplace, in this Capitol. Even Republicans know that would be wrong, but if that's really where you stand, then I stand with the citizens of DC who know what's best. Do what they'd do. Vote down this bill.