Now Maryland and Virginia officials are questioning its ramifications for their states. Key is a provision that would permit D.C. residents to purchase handguns in Maryland and Virginia. So worried is Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) about the extra costs of background checks and resulting threats to public safety that he has written to House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) to urge that the gun measure not be allowed to become law. "Maryland," he wrote, "should not be expected to become properly equipped to regulate D.C.'s gun market; nor should this duty be imposed without hearings to determine the extent of federal assistance necessary to regulate this expanded market." It's easy for Congress to disdain the District; let's hope it shows neighboring states more respect.
The Gun Ruse
Opponents of D.C. voting rights reveal their true motives.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009; A20
TO HEAR proponents of the congressional effort to rewrite the D.C. gun laws tell it, their only interest is in upholding the Second Amendment. They say that the best way to undo what they see as unlawful restrictions on firearms in the city is by amending the D.C. voting rights bill. What they can't explain is why they didn't simply use the powers of congressional review to short-circuit any gun restrictions they found objectionable. Their failure to do so suggests that what they really care about is not the right of D.C. residents to bear arms but denying those same citizens any hope of getting a rightful say in their government.
Today -- by coincidence, April Fools' Day -- marks the end of the congressional review period for the Firearms Registration Amendment Act of 2008. Adopted by the D.C. Council, this legislation rewrites the District's regulation of firearms in response to the Supreme Court's historic ruling ending the city's decades-old ban on handgun possession. Among its provisions are requirements for gun registration and safety training and rules making it harder for those with a history of violence to own guns. At any point during the mandatory review period, Congress could have acted to change or reject the measure. Its power of review is absolute and it did . . . nothing.
Instead, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) targeted the city's cherished voting rights bill...
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