Semiautomatic weapons may become legal for the first time in nearly 30 years in the District of Columbia.
The D.C. Personal Protection Act, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives at the end of September, repeals the district’s ban on semiautomatic weapons and handguns. It eliminates the gun registration requirement and explicitly prevents the D.C. government from counteracting these acts.
Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.), who sponsored the bill, has made the argument that repealing the ban on guns will make D.C. citizens safer. He has painted himself as the savior of the “defenseless, law-abiding citizens” of D.C.
Needless to say, Souder’s buddies at the National Rifle Association were quick to back him.
The fallacy of this logic has been obvious since 1998, when a study published in the Journal of Trauma revealed that guns kept at home are 22 times more likely to be used in an accident, assault, homicide or attempted or successful suicide than in self defense.
The act passed also allows citizens to keep loaded and unlocked semi-automatic assault weapons in their homes.
The bill still forbids firearm possession by a convicted criminal. But the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence notes that it does allow sale of firearms to those who have killed someone through negligent use of a gun and those declared alcoholics by a court.
This bill is not about protecting D.C. citizens. It is a political favor to the NRA, enacted because pro-gun politicians can’t reverse gun control laws in their home states. They don’t mind increasing the volume of assault weapons on city streets-most of those guns will be used east of the Anacostia River, and Souder wouldn’t venture out there anyway.
It is appalling that this legislation passed the House with 52 Democrats supporting it. It will devastate crime rates in the District of Columbia, which, according to the FBI’s crime reports, saw a decrease of six points in murder rates when the handgun ban was first enacted in 1976. Crime rates are reported as number of offenses per 100,000 population.
The Personal Protection Act will be debated in the Senate after the November elections, but it is unlikely to become law.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of chance, but stranger things have happened,” John Lacey, communications director at Americans for Gun Safety, an advocacy organization that opposes both the D.C. gun ban and the bill, said.
Still, in passing the bill, the House has set a dangerous precedent.
