WASHINGTON, July 17 (UPI) -- The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee wants the gun ban repealed in Washington so District residents can own handguns legally.
The D.C. Personal Protection Act, introduced by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, would end strict registration requirements for ammunition and other firearms in D.C., some of the nation's toughest restrictions, and lift prohibitions on the possession or carrying of weapons at homes and workplaces.
Hatch was quoted by the Washington Post as saying: "It is time to restore the rights of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and to defend their families against murderous predators."
He called the District the "murder capital of the United States" and said the gun prohibition is "as ineffective and deplorable as it is unconstitutional." But, some local officials, including Mayor Anthony A. Williams, oppose Hatch's legislation.
According to Justice Department statistics, the District's per-capita murder rate hovered between third- and seventh-highest from 1994 to 2001 among cities with more than 100,000 residents.
