DC Mayor, Police Chief Beg Congress to Act on Gun Laws

Assortment of weapons seized from DC streets displayed ahead of mayor's plea for new gun laws. pic.twitter.com/ELU7HuhSE4
— Peter Hermann (@phscoop) June 23, 2016

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, Police Chief Cathy Lanier and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) gathered before the media this morning and pleaded for "common sense gun reform" — displaying an ominous collection of guns to prove their point.

An "assortment of weapons seized from DC streets" were on display on a table ahead of the mayor's address, Washington Post reporter Peter Hermann tweeted.

The pleas come in the wake of the deadly attack on Pulse Nightclub in Orlando earlier this month by an armed gunman that ended up being the worst mass shooting in United States history. Still, Democrats have not been able to make any progress on new gun laws, getting blocked by Republicans at every turn.

Lanier's police force has been trying to seize weapons in the District, and the mayor's office has pushed for tougher gun laws to deal with the rise in homicides in the city, according to a Washington Post report. Lanier said she is seeing an increase in high-powered weapons with large-capacity magazines. Recently, police arrested three men with a TEC-9 assault pistol and a .45-caliber handgun in Northeast.

House Democrats staged a sit-in in the House chamber to demand a vote on gun-control measures — a watered-down bill that would only block gun purchases for people on the no-fly list.

D.C.'s anti-gun push suffered a defeat just last month when a federal judge ruled that a key provision of a new gun law in the District was probably unconstitutional. The bill would have required people to show "good reason" to carry a firearm in order to obtain a permit for a gun.

Bowser: Residents of the District of Columbia are fed up with gun violence pic.twitter.com/R0fnqifUyl
— Matt Ackland (@mattacklandfox5) June 23, 2016