I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1288 
To restore Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 14, 2005 
Mr. SOUDER (for himself, Mr. ROSS, Mr. WICKER, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. 
GINGREY, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. 
SHUSTER, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. KLINE, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. 
BEAUPREZ, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. GRAVES, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. AKIN, Mr. 
MATHESON, Mr. DENT, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. BUYER, and Mr. 
HOSTETTLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Government Reform 
A BILL 
To restore Second Amendment rights in the District of 
Columbia. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘District of Columbia 
Personal Protection Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Second Amendment to the United 
States Constitution provides that the right of the 
people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 
(2) The Second Amendment to the United 
States Constitution protects the rights of individ-
uals, including those who are not members of a mili-
tia or engaged in military service or training, to 
keep and bear arms. 
(3) The law-abiding citizens of the District of 
Columbia are deprived by local laws of handguns, ri-
fles, and shotguns that are commonly kept by law- 
abiding persons throughout the United States for 
sporting use and for lawful defense of their persons, 
homes, businesses, and families. 
(4) The District of Columbia has the highest 
per capita murder rate in the Nation, which may be 
attributed in part to local laws prohibiting posses-
sion of firearms by law-abiding persons who would 
otherwise be able to defend themselves and their 
loved ones in their own homes and businesses. 
(5) The Federal Gun Control Act of 1968, as 
amended by the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act of 
1986, and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention 
Act of 1993, provide comprehensive Federal regula-
tions applicable in the District of Columbia as else-
where. In addition, existing District of Columbia 
criminal laws punish possession and illegal use of 
firearms by violent criminals and felons. Con-
sequently, there is no need for local laws which only 
affect and disarm law-abiding citizens. 
(6) Legislation is required to correct the Dis-
trict of Columbia’s law in order to restore the funda-
mental rights of its citizens under the Second 
Amendment to the United States Constitution and 
thereby enhance public safety. 
SEC. 3. REFORM D.C. COUNCIL’S AUTHORITY TO RESTRICT 
FIREARMS. 
Section 4 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to prohibit the 
killing of wild birds and wild animals in the District of 
Columbia’’, approved June 30, 1906 (34 Stat. 809; sec. 
1—303.43, D.C. Official Code) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: ‘‘Nothing in this section or any 
other provision of law shall authorize, or shall be con-
strued to permit, the Council, the Mayor, or any govern-
mental or regulatory authority of the District of Columbia 
to prohibit, constructively prohibit, or unduly burden the 
ability of persons not prohibited from possessing firearms 
under Federal law from acquiring, possessing in their 
homes or businesses, or using for sporting, self-protection 
or other lawful purposes, any firearm neither prohibited
by Federal law nor subject to the National Firearms Act. 
The District of Columbia shall not have authority to enact 
laws or regulations that discourage or eliminate the pri-
vate ownership or use of firearms.’’. 
SEC. 4. REPEAL D.C. SEMIAUTOMATIC BAN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(10) of the Firearms 
Control Regulations Act of 1975 (sec. 7—2501.01(10), 
D.C. Official Code) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(10) ‘Machine gun’ means any firearm which 
shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily con-
verted or restored to shoot automatically, more than 
1 shot by a single function of the trigger, and in-
cludes the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any 
part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or 
combination of parts designed and intended, for use 
in converting a weapon into a machine gun, and any 
combination of parts from which a machine gun can 
be assembled if such parts are in the possession or 
under the control of a person.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO PROVISIONS SET-
TING FORTH CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Section 1(c) of the 
Act of July 8, 1932 (47 Stat. 651; sec. 22—4501(c), D.C. 
Official Code) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(c) ‘Machine gun’, as used in this Act, has the 
meaning given such term in section 101(10) of the Fire-
arms Control Regulations Act of 1975.’’. 
SEC. 5. REPEAL REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT. 
(a) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 201(a) of the Fire-
arms Control Regulations Act of 1975 (sec. 7— 
2502.01(a), D.C. Official Code) is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘any firearm, unless’’ and all that follows 
through paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 
‘‘any firearm described in subsection (c).’’. 
(2) DESCRIPTION OF FIREARMS REMAINING IL-
LEGAL.—Section 201 of such Act (sec. 7—2502.01, 
D.C. Official Code) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(c) A firearm described in this subsection is any of 
the following: 
‘‘(1) A sawed-off shotgun. 
‘‘(2) A machine gun. 
‘‘(3) A short-barreled rifle.’’. 
(3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The heading 
of section 201 of such Act (sec. 7—2502.01, D.C. 
Official Code) is amended by striking ‘‘Registration 
requirements’’ and inserting ‘‘Firearm Possession’’.