Contact: Christie Hobbs
Phone: (202) 349-5889
WASHINGTON, DC — The Independent Women’s Forum today applauds legislation introduced Thursday by U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison which would repeal the District of Columbia’s arcane ban on gun ownership. Currently, it is a felony to own a handgun if you are a resident of DC.
“As a single woman living alone in DC, I am incensed that I can’t own a gun to protect myself,” said Louise Filkins, IWF’s communications director. “Women are particularly vulnerable to crime and denying them the right to own a gun is clearly anti-woman. This gun ban has been in effect almost 30 years, yet the District still continues to have one of the highest crime rates in the nation.”
DC Mayor Anthony Williams and DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton have vowed to defeat the legislation calling the legislation a “rude insult” to residents.
“I find it a rude insult that Williams and Norton don’t trust law-abiding citizens to own a gun,” Filkins added. “They have failed to protect the citizens of DC from crime and therefore we should be allowed to protect ourselves. It’s time Congress and the District of Columbia restore our right to bear arms, which is guaranteed to us by the U.S. Constitution.”