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07-17-2003, 09:28 AM
Repeal Of D.C. Gun Ban Urged
Hatch Proposes Loosening Limits In Place Since '76
By Spencer S. Hsu and Arthur Santana
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, July 17, 2003; Page A01
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee wants District residents to be able to own handguns legally, reviving a pitched debate over gun control in a city with some of the toughest restrictions in the nation.
The D.C. Personal Protection Act, introduced Tuesday by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), would repeal the District's ban on handguns, end strict registration requirements for ammunition and other firearms, and lift prohibitions on the possession or carrying of weapons at homes and workplaces. The legislation also would loosen the District's definition of a machine gun, possession of which is subject to additional sanction. The term now includes many semiautomatic weapons.
Although the District's 1976 gun law has been a frequent target of gun rights activists, it has withstood assaults as recently as 1999, when the House of Representatives failed to enact national gun-control legislation that included its repeal. But the involvement of Hatch, a senior Senate Republican leader, and the recent success of congressional candidates supported by gun rights groups provide fresh impetus for a showdown over gun limits in the nation's capital.
Repeal of Gun Ban Cont. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2789-2003Jul16.html)
Hatch Proposes Loosening Limits In Place Since '76
By Spencer S. Hsu and Arthur Santana
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, July 17, 2003; Page A01
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee wants District residents to be able to own handguns legally, reviving a pitched debate over gun control in a city with some of the toughest restrictions in the nation.
The D.C. Personal Protection Act, introduced Tuesday by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), would repeal the District's ban on handguns, end strict registration requirements for ammunition and other firearms, and lift prohibitions on the possession or carrying of weapons at homes and workplaces. The legislation also would loosen the District's definition of a machine gun, possession of which is subject to additional sanction. The term now includes many semiautomatic weapons.
Although the District's 1976 gun law has been a frequent target of gun rights activists, it has withstood assaults as recently as 1999, when the House of Representatives failed to enact national gun-control legislation that included its repeal. But the involvement of Hatch, a senior Senate Republican leader, and the recent success of congressional candidates supported by gun rights groups provide fresh impetus for a showdown over gun limits in the nation's capital.
Repeal of Gun Ban Cont. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2789-2003Jul16.html)