House Bill Would End D.C. Registration Rules

D.C. officials are trying to beat back an effort by some lawmakers to send a bill to the House floor that would bring D.C. gun laws into compliance with the Heller decision. The gun bill, co-sponsored by Reps. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) and Mark Souder (R-Ind.), was introduced previously and stalled. The measure now stands a good chance of gaining approval by the House of Representatives because of an unusual legislative maneuver, congressional staff members and observers said.

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Congress Has a Duty to Intervene

So says Representative Mark Souder (R-IN) in the Washington Post this morning:

Sadly, since the announcement of the Heller decision, we have seen the D.C. Council continue to thumb its nose at the Constitution and defy a clear Supreme Court order by largely maintaining its draconian handgun ban.

Moreover, when Congress chose to delegate home rule to the District in the 1970s, it specified that legislation enacted by the District must be “consistent with the Constitution of the United States,” and it “reserve[d] the right, at any time, to exercise its constitutional authority as legislature for the District, by enacting legislation for the District on any subject.”

I do hope some folks in Indiana will consider volunteering for Rep. Souder’s campaign in this 2008 election.  We need to keep guys like this in office.  Rep. Souder is the sponsor of H.Res.1331, the bill to preempt City Council from regulating guns, and set DC’s gun laws to something close to federal law.

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