The White House is not too happy about a Republican proposal to roll back the District of Columbia's gun restrictions, saying Friday that Congress should not interfere with the District government's laws.
"Gun laws that are made by the District of Columbia should be made by the District government," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters, according to The Hill. "Home rule is important."
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, recently introduced the Second Amendment Enforcement Act of 2015, a bill that would ease restrictions on purchasing and carrying firearms in D.C., which has long had some of the strictest gun laws in the nation.
The proposal would:
- Remove the authority of the D.C. Council to enact restrictive gun control measures.
- Conform D.C. law to federal law governing firearm commerce.
- Enable D.C. residents to obtain firearms from licensed dealers in Maryland and Virginia.
- Repeal D.C.'s onerous firearm registration system.
- Create a "shall-issue" permitting system for concealed carry, including provisions pertaining to background checks and firearm training.
- Create authority for private entities and secure public buildings to determine whether, or to what degree, firearms will be allowed on their premises.
"For years, the District of Columbia has infringed on its residents' Second Amendment rights and rendered them vulnerable to criminals who could care less what the gun laws are," Rubio said in a statement. "This legislation will finally allow D.C.'s law-abiding residents and visitors access to firearms for sporting or lawful defense of themselves and their homes, businesses and families."
"In order to achieve the American Dream, people need to be able to live in safe communities and be able to protect themselves, their families and their properties from danger," he added. "The lawful exercise of the Second Amendment is part of what makes this possible."
While Earnest didn't go as far as suggesting Obama could veto the measure, he did say that the Obama administration's inability to enact stricter federal gun-control legislation has been "a course of some disappointment here at the White House."
The latest gun-restriction measure, an attempt to ban M855 "green tip" ammunition, failed to gain support and was, at least temporarily, halted earlier this month after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives received thousands of negative comments.
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, a Democrat, slammed the bill, saying it is "reckless and disregards our country's national security. All that would remain to protect the public leaders and citizens from gun violence is federal law, and federal law has proven to be inadequate," reported The Washington Times.
