Sweet! Congress to act in order to bring DC into compliance with the Heller decision

Good news for the residents of DC, and this is probably a politically smart move for the Democrats.  I say smart move on the Democrats part (assuming they pass it) because they know that the last thing they need is Second Amendment activists riled up for November. 

The Democrats know how disastrous that can be, and they're on the wrong side on Second Amendment issues when it comes to public opinion, and they know it.  There's a reason you're seeing Blue Dogs Democrats popping up in places, they're almost all pro-2nd (or at least vote that way thus far) and know if the Democrats don't start trying to impose abusive bans and regulations, they can compete in centrist, rural and some right leaning districts and maintain a majority.  Any effort to impose abusive federal gun bans or regulations could end all that.

If they were truly wise, they'd just make this a national policy to avoid the inevitable lawsuits in Chicago, NY, Mass., California and other places the Marxists have an iron grip in.

That'll be the next big fight, I dunno if the Democrats are hoping to have a more liberal SCOTUS for the next round, or that Justice Kennedy will flip his Shiny Nickel of Arbitrary Decisionmaking (+3 against rational arguments, +2 resistance to Constitutional Law) in their favor. 

I think it'd be much easier for the Democrats to just let pro-2nd forces have this win and others, and just take their losses over the past ten years for now.  They're going to want to focus on getting socialist medicine, greenie boondoggles, moar entitlements, gutting the military and raising taxes, not on futile demagoguery against gun owners that'd just burn political capital with nothing to show for it (possibly less than nothing if it caused Blue Dog losses in later elections). 

Okay, so, what will the bill do?  The NRA had a hand in brokering this, and this is what they're saying you'll see,

• Repeal the District's ban on semi-automatic handguns.  Semi-automatic pistols have been the most commonly purchased handguns in the United States over the last 20 years, and therefore a ban on those firearms is unconstitutional as decided by Heller;

 

• Restore the right of self-defense by repealing the requirement that firearms be disassembled or secured with a trigger lock in the home;

 

• Repeal the current D.C. registration system that requires multiple visits to police headquarters; ballistics testing; passing a written test on D.C. gun laws; fingerprinting; and limiting registration to one handgun per 90 days.  The current system is unduly burdensome and serves as a vehicle for even more onerous restrictions; and

 

• Create a limited exemption to the federal ban on interstate handgun sales by allowing D.C. residents to purchase handguns in Virginia and Maryland.  Currently there are no firearms dealers in the District of Columbia, and the federal ban prohibits residents from purchasing handguns outside of the District; therefore, District residents have no means of purchasing handguns.

Now, I notice it doesn't say no registration, it says the cumbersome registration that exists now is a no-go, so I wonder if you may still have to register.  Hope I'm wrong, and that there'll be no registration, guess we'll see. 

Guess if you're living in DC, having a registered pistol beats being dead because you couldn't legally defend yourself.  I wonder what, if any restrictions will be placed on semi-autos, if they'll put a limit on capacity, or allow DC to.  The rest is all self explanatory and good, and I'm glad they're addressing the whole "no dealers in DC" issue too.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 08:06 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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