District of Columbia: Norton requests weapons restriction wherever Obama appears

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, who serves on the Homeland Security Committee, has called on U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan to restrict the carrying of weapons openly or concealed in or around the areas where the President of the United States and cabinet officials appear, following reports, photos, and videos of people carrying guns outside of an Obama town hall meeting in Arizona last week.Norton said that this restriction is particularly necessary in the nation's capitol, where recently filed litigation seeks to overturn D.C. law in order to allow residents and visitors to carry concealed guns in public.

The risks of public shootings, which threaten homeland security, have been minimized by District gun laws that restrict both open and concealed gun carrying in public in the nation's capital. After a Norton hearing last session that revealed that a similar bill would have allowed the open carrying of weapons in the District, even the National Rifle Association voluntarily withdrew the dangerous provisions.

"I seek no change in the local laws of other jurisdictions, and ask only respect for gun laws in my own district," Norton said. "However, it is clear that if the Secret Service can temporarily clear all aircraft from air space when the President is in the vicinity, the agency has the authority to clear guns on the ground that is even closer to the President.