WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia Council planned to vote Tuesday on emergency legislation to allow handguns if they are used only for self-defense in the home and carry fewer than 12 rounds of ammunition.
The legislation announced Monday comes as officials scramble to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month striking down the city's 32-year-old ban.
The proposal, which maintains some of the city's strict gun ownership rules and adds more regulations, was immediately criticized by gun rights advocates threatening more legal action.
The nation's capital would still require rifles and shotguns be kept in the home unloaded and disassembled, or equipped with trigger locks. There would be an exception for guns used against the "reasonably perceived threat of immediate harm."
The proposed legislation also maintains the city's unusual regulation of machine guns, defined as weapons that shoot at least 12 rounds without reloading. That applies to most semiautomatic firearms.
"We have crafted what I believe to be a model for the nation in terms of complying with the Supreme Court's Second Amendment decision and at the same time protecting our citizens," interim Attorney General Peter Nickles said....
Activists with the Brady Campaign for gun control hold signs outside the Supreme Court in Washington June 26, 2008. For the first time in U.S. history, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that individual Americans have the right to own guns for personal use, and struck down a strict gun control law in the U.S. capital. The landmark 5-4 ruling marked the first time in nearly 70 years the country's high court has addressed whether the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, rather than a right tied to service in a state militia. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (UNITED STATES)
The NRA (National Rifle Association) has its own 'SIRIUS' radio station to promote their propaganda (click here if you actually care to hear that mess). The Florida Gun law allowing employees the right to carry weapons into the work place is a profound joke. Every decent employer seeking to protect its employees from danger and itself from lawsuits is scrambling for protection.
Corporate 'protectionism' seeking sanity from the Bush Gun Toting Liberalism of Crony Interests began with Disney !
BY MARC CAPUTO
mcaputo@MiamiHerald.com
NRA
National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer calls Georgia Pacific's interpretation of the law not just 'anti-gun' but 'ridiculous.'
TALLAHASSEE -- Georgia-Pacific has declared that its Palatka toilet- and tissue-paper plant isn't bound by a controversial employee gun-rights law, citing a Homeland Security exemption because the company handles barge-loads of explosive fuel.
The company's decision -- following Disney World's recent decision that it'sexempt because of its federal explosives permit -- has enraged the National Rifle Association and spotlighted the Legislature's difficulty in drafting clear laws, especially when major lobbies clash during the brief 60-day lawmaking session.
The law's intent: Allow employees with concealed weapons permits the right to have their firearms locked in their car in workplace parking lots....
mcaputo@MiamiHerald.com
NRA
National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer calls Georgia Pacific's interpretation of the law not just 'anti-gun' but 'ridiculous.'
TALLAHASSEE -- Georgia-Pacific has declared that its Palatka toilet- and tissue-paper plant isn't bound by a controversial employee gun-rights law, citing a Homeland Security exemption because the company handles barge-loads of explosive fuel.
The company's decision -- following Disney World's recent decision that it'sexempt because of its federal explosives permit -- has enraged the National Rifle Association and spotlighted the Legislature's difficulty in drafting clear laws, especially when major lobbies clash during the brief 60-day lawmaking session.
The law's intent: Allow employees with concealed weapons permits the right to have their firearms locked in their car in workplace parking lots....
