Post by Sailor on Oct 3, 2008 13:42:31 GMT -8
Congress Tries To Blow Away D.C. Gun Law
This much is clear: The nonsense that Democrats peddle about being the party that will advance the cause of home rule and voting rights for the District of Columbia is nothing more than campaign blather. When push comes to shove, as it did today on the House floor, the Dems are perfectly happy to elbow Washingtonians out of the way.
Eighty-five Democrats joined with 181 Republicans to approve a bill that strips the District of its ability to write its own new gun laws in response to this summer's U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the D.C. ban on handgun possession.
Of course, Republicans aren't exactly stepping up to take on the battle for voting rights, either. Even Rep. Tom Davis, the Fairfax Republican who led the fight over the past few years to get a seat in the House for the District, voted for this bill, which proves once again that the little democracy the District does have is a mere show, a game Congress plays to give half a million Americans the illusion that they have some say in the governance of their own city. And while many Democrats who supported House Resolution 6842 may claim that they only did so because it's campaign season and they needed to protect themselves against the NRA and gun rights supporters in their home districts, Davis is a lame duck, not running for anything, totally free to vote his conscience. Which we have to assume he did today, showing his true colors after years of advocacy on behalf of D.C. voting rights.
voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/09/congress_blows_away_dc_gun_law.html
Even with this vote the story ain't over yet.
This much is clear: The nonsense that Democrats peddle about being the party that will advance the cause of home rule and voting rights for the District of Columbia is nothing more than campaign blather. When push comes to shove, as it did today on the House floor, the Dems are perfectly happy to elbow Washingtonians out of the way.
Eighty-five Democrats joined with 181 Republicans to approve a bill that strips the District of its ability to write its own new gun laws in response to this summer's U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the D.C. ban on handgun possession.
Of course, Republicans aren't exactly stepping up to take on the battle for voting rights, either. Even Rep. Tom Davis, the Fairfax Republican who led the fight over the past few years to get a seat in the House for the District, voted for this bill, which proves once again that the little democracy the District does have is a mere show, a game Congress plays to give half a million Americans the illusion that they have some say in the governance of their own city. And while many Democrats who supported House Resolution 6842 may claim that they only did so because it's campaign season and they needed to protect themselves against the NRA and gun rights supporters in their home districts, Davis is a lame duck, not running for anything, totally free to vote his conscience. Which we have to assume he did today, showing his true colors after years of advocacy on behalf of D.C. voting rights.
voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/09/congress_blows_away_dc_gun_law.html
Even with this vote the story ain't over yet.