Sen. Marco Rubio and House Rep. Jim Jordan teamed up on Thursday to introduce legislation that would drastically roll back the District of Columbia's strict gun laws.

Rubio, a likely Republican presidential contender in 2016, argued that the bill is needed to "correct" the stringent laws violating the Second Amendment. According to him, the laws prevent law-abiding citizens from owning and carrying firearms in the nation's capital.

"In order to achieve the American Dream, people need to be able to live in safe communities and be able to protect themselves, their families and their properties from danger," the Florida Republican said in a statement. "For years, the District of Columbia has infringed on its residents' Second Amendment rights and rendered them vulnerable to criminals who could care less what the gun laws are. This legislation will finally allow D.C.'s law-abiding residents and visitors access to firearms for sporting or lawful defense of themselves and their homes, businesses and families."

Under the "Second Amendment Enforcement Act of 2015," D.C. residents would be allowed to purchase firearms and carry them in public. The bill also seeks to eliminate D.C. gun registration requirements, overturn the city's ban on semi-automatic firearms and create a "shall issue" provision that would require the District to issue a concealed-carry permit to anyone who meets basic criteria, reports The Washington Post.

In addition, the D.C. Council and mayor would be restricted from passing future restrictions on gun control.

According to Jordan, a Congressional Republican representing Ohio, the bill would make the District a safer place for law-abiding citizens and "restore the original intent of the Second Amendment to our nation's capital."

However, critics say that Rubio is just touting the bill in order to gain political points with gun advocates in light of his potential presidential campaign.

"It should shock no one that Sen. Rubio, who is widely expected to soon announce a run for president, would try to raise his national profile and conservative bona fides," said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District's nonvoting member of Congress, reports The Washington Times. "But they should be shocked to hear that he would try to use our local jurisdiction and laws to violate his own support for the principle of local control. Such bullying is not very presidential."