WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States House of Representatives yesterday voted 266 to152, with one Member voting Present, to give residents of the District of Columbia the right to own handguns. Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (Kansas Second District) said, “Washington, DC has some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the country.  Since 1976, District residents have been banned from owning new handguns, and they can not keep loaded guns in their house.  Carrying an unloaded gun from room to room in their house violates the ban on “transporting” weapons.  All this in a city with one of the highest violent crime rates in the country.”

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court took up the case DC vs. Heller, a challenge to the strict handgun ban in Washington, DC. For the first time in more than 80 years, the Court had to interpret the meaning of the Constitution’s Second Amendment:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” 

On June 26, 2008, the Court announced its decision. It recognized that the Constitution guarantees an individual’s right to own firearms, and it struck down the DC handgun ban as unconstitutional.

Boyda said, “The courts have begun to strike down some of these laws, but we should not wait for the courts to step in. I have previously voted twice to protect our Second Amendment right to bear arms, and I was proud yesterday to support the National Capital Security and Safety Act.”

H.R 6842 establishes precedence. It permits law-abiding citizens to possess handguns and rifles in their homes and businesses; repeals the registration requirement for firearms and ammunition; and repeals the ban on semiautomatic weapons. Boyda said, “I will continue to fight for the right of all law-abiding Americans to own guns for shooting, hunting and protection.”