U.S. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) in 2009. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

With the first anniversary of the mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn. elementary school fast approaching, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) has decried the reintroduction of a bill that seeks to eliminate many of D.C.’s strict gun laws.

“It is bad enough that House Republicans continually reveal themselves to be hypocrites with repeated introduction of legislation to usurp the local autonomy of the District of Columbia despite their insistence on reducing the power of the federal government,” Norton said in a statement. “The timing of this bill, as we remember the victims of the tragic Newtown shooting and their families, is especially insulting and out of line.”

The National Rifle Association-backed bill “to restore Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia,” according to Norton’s office, is “virtually identical to the Second Amendment Enforcement Act,” which sought to permit carrying guns in public, repeal D.C.’s ban on assault weapons and bar the city from not allowing guns inside public buildings like elementary schools.

Norton will speak at a Sandy Hook vigil this afternoon at the National Cathedral at which Carole King will perform. She’s seeking an apology to Newtown families from the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).