Mark Souder: “Today, we will be debating a bill that will go a long way in protecting the constitutional rights of the residents of…”

“Today, we will be debating a bill that will go a long way in protecting the constitutional rights of the residents of the District of Columbia. As all may know, currently in Washington, D.C., citizens are prevented from owning any handgun at all. I am bringing before you today a bill that would restore the second amendment rights of D.C. citizens. I think it is important to note that my bill would not repeal any provision of D.C. law that bans gun possession by criminals, or that punishes violent crime. In 1976, 2 years after Congress had granted the District of Columbia home rule, the D.C. City Council passed a bill which repealed the handgun ban in the District. The handgun ban actually arrested progress. In the 5 years before 1976, when the handgun ban was put into effect, the murder rate in the District of Columbia had fallen to 27 per 100,000 from 37 per 100,000, according to researchers at the American Enterprise Institute. Five years after the ban, the murders had climbed back to 35 for every 100,000 residents. From that point, it became worse. In the 13 years between 1987 and 2000, D.C. earned the dubious distinction as the murder capital of the United States.”