H.R. 6691

HR 6691 was introduced into the House yesterday by a bi-partisan group of Congressman.  The aim of this bill is to put an end to the District of Columbia’s efforts to circumvent the Supreme Court’s ruling in DC vs. Heller.  Read the NRA press release on the bill here.  The highlights of the bill are below:

• Repeal the District’s ban on semi-automatic handguns.  Semi-automatic pistols have been the most commonly purchased handguns in the United States over the last 20 years, and therefore a ban on those firearms is unconstitutional as decided by Heller;

• Restore the right of self-defense by repealing the requirement that firearms be disassembled or secured with a trigger lock in the home;

• Repeal the current D.C. registration system that requires multiple visits to police headquarters; ballistics testing; passing a written test on D.C. gun laws; fingerprinting; and limiting registration to one handgun per 90 days.  The current system is unduly burdensome and serves as a vehicle for even more onerous restrictions; and

• Create a limited exemption to the federal ban on interstate handgun sales by allowing D.C. residents to purchase handguns in Virginia and Maryland.  Currently there are no firearms dealers in the District of Columbia, and the federal ban prohibits residents from purchasing handguns outside of the District; therefore, District residents have no means of purchasing handguns.

There has been some talk of this bill being a “compromise” bill, because it was introduce with bi-partisan support.  I have got to say that I think that’s kind of well, dumb – having Rep. Dingel on the bill makes it that much harder for Nancy Pelosi to have her attack dogs shoot this bill down.

Take a look again at the list of things that this bill does for residents of the District – this goes a long way towards restoring their right to keep and bear arms by granting them access to functional defensive firearms that are widely available to all law abiding citizens.

I’m contacting my member of the House today to urge him to support H.R. 6691 and hope that you will do the same for your members of the house.  You can locate and write your elected officials by using this link from NRA.