Kay has a plan...

[onerifle]

May 19, 2005, 2:33PM

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3189714

Forced to leave gun in Texas, Hutchison has plan
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — She may be able to hang a giant Lone Star flag outside her office, but Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said today there's one part of her Texas culture she couldn't bring to the nation's capital — her handgun.

Hutchison said she didn't know when she arrived from Austin in 1993 that the District of Columbia prohibits keeping a fully assembled handgun in the home. The district's ban has been in place since 1975.

Hutchison, a Republican who is considering a 2006 run for Texas governor, introduced legislation today to lift the ban. If the bill passes she said she would keep a gun in her D.C. home.

Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and George Allen, R-Va., are co-sponsors.

"I have always had a handgun in the drawer next to my bed, and I would certainly again have one if it were legal in D.C.," Hutchison said.

Her office said her handgun is a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver.

Hutchison said after she learned of the D.C. gun ban, she dismantled her gun, bought a travel case for it and took it back to Texas. She said she's complying with the law even though she thinks it's unconstitutional.

"I think every woman in the District of Columbia should have the ability to protect herself in her home," she said.

Hutchison previously served as chair of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding for the District of Columbia.

A similar attempt at repealing D.C.'s gun ban failed last year. Hutchison lends the clout of a member of the Republican leadership — she is the vice-chair of the Republican Conference — and her measure has 25 co-sponsors.

[HighVelocity]

Go KayB! :D

[dolanp]

Sensible laws in Washington? Amazing!

[jimlongley]

Get some, Kay!

[Paladin]

It was great to hear Hutchison is working to end the DC gun ban!

Unfortunately at least one of the gun grabbers is already critisizing her:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20050 ... i24/nc:742

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I send in a response to Dante Chinni as follows:

"Dante Chinni is listed as a senior associate with the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism. This is surprising considering the errors in his recent article "GOP gunslinging in D.C."

Chinni writes in "GOP gunslinging in D.C.":

"But perhaps the most confounding part of this proposal is this: why is the Republican Party, the party of states' rights, deciding that in this case the federal government should supersede the will of the people living in the District? When did the GOP suddenly become the party that believes the federal government knows best?"

Section 8, Clause 17 of the US Constitution states:

"The Congress shall have Power ... To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District[Washington D.C.]"

The GOP is simply following the Constitution. The Congress has the right to make all legislation in the District. Maybe Mr. Chinni should familiarize himself with the document?

Mr. Chinni also demonstrates his ignorance of firearms with the statement:

"If the good people of Texas want to walk around sporting semiautomatic rifles on their shoulder, all I can say is, "Good for you, Texans" - while I quietly creep out the door to buy stock in Kevlar vest makers."

Any police officer will tell you that kevlar vests are designed to stop handgun bullets, not rifle bullets.

The primary subject of the article is the "D.C. Personal Protection Act of 2005". This legislation will loosen the restrictions on law-abiding citizens of the District owning firearms. Mr. Chinni seems to think that's a bad thing.

Perhaps if he was familiar with criminal groups like the infamous "K-street" gang in DC he would feel differently. The K-street gang managed to silence an entire city block by murdering a dozen or so citizens that provided information on the gang to authorities.

Several citizens were shot/murdered while they were under witness protection.

If it was demonstrated that the authorities (federal and local) could not protect their own witnesses... What chance does the average D.C. citizen currently have against the gangs?

I guess Dante Chinni is supporting D.C.'s well armed thugs by keeping citizens disarmed, vulnerable, and quiet?

Personally I'm glad Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is taking action on the matter."