Heller - Democrats feeling the heat.

[LoginName]

I wonder if Fenty still has any clue about the can of worms he opened?...

Pelosi opposes gun bill but may allow vote
By Mike Soraghan
Posted: 07/31/08 06:59 PM [ET]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she personally opposes a bill loosening the District of Columbia’s gun laws, but that does not mean she will block it from coming to the floor.

“I want to see the particulars,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday. “Then we’ll see what comes to the floor or doesn’t come to the floor.”

The bill, designed to head off a showdown between the National Rifle Association and conservative House Democrats, was introduced Thursday, with roughly 50 Democratic co-sponsors, according to congressional sources.

The bill’s lead sponsors are to be three of the Democrats’ most vulnerable members from conservative districts – Reps. Travis Childers (D-Miss.), Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) and Don Cazayoux (D-La.).

The bill, to be numbered H.R. 6691, would repeal the district’s ban on semi-automatic pistols, the requirement that handguns be registered, and allow District residents from traveling to Virginia or Maryland to buy guns. The District currently forbids importing guns, and there are no registered gun dealers with shops in Washington.

Rep. Mark Souder (D-Ind.), who introduced a discharge petition to try to force Democrats to support a similar bill, is also expected to be a co-sponsor.

The deal was negotiated with the powerful gun-rights group by Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.), Mike Ross (D-Ark.) and John Tanner (D-Tenn.).

The details were hammered out Thursday in a meeting between Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and lawmakers backing the bill. Supporters say they have been given a commitment of a vote by mid-September.

Souder’s discharge petition sought to bring a bill by Ross to bring a D.C. gun-rights bill directly to the floor, bypassing the committee where it was languishing.

Supporters are building on a June Supreme Court decision rejecting the District’s decades-old gun law as unconstitutional. They believe District officials, who disliked the ruling, were dragging their feet and failing to fully implement the ruling.

The NRA officials had threatened to use House members’ willingness to sign the discharge petition in its scoring for this year’s election. Conservative Democrats who didn’t sign it, most of them members of the Blue Dog Coalition, risked losing their “A-plus” ratings.

The compromise with the NRA is designed to remove pressure on Democrats to sign the discharge petition, which had 164 signatures as of Wednesday.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/pelosi-opposes-gun-bill-but-may-allow-vote-2008-07-31.html

 

[doobie]

What did this post have to do with Heller that it was in the title? Just wondering if I am missing something.

 

[strangenh]

The decision in Heller is forcing the issue. You can have a firearm in DC, but residents can pretty much forget about buying one. With 75% of the country supporting the core 2nd Amendment issue, it was only a matter of time before the largest grassroots 2nd A. rights org started holding politicians' feet to the fire.

And good on them for doing so. They were reluctant to bring the issue all the way to the Court, but now that it's been there they are running with the ball.

 

[doobie]

Umm yeah when DC lost the SC ruling they immediately introduced semi-auto pistol ban and forced registration.

Yeah, what I was getting at was that the news article made no mention to Heller.... I just wanted to know if the new wave was to attach Heller as if he is some Idol to everything pro-gun.

 

[dwarven1]

I believe that a quote from Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forest would be appropriate here:

"Get 'em skeered and keep the skeer on 'em!"

 

[Jose]

Oh, I so freaking LOVE this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE GOT 'EM BY THE BALLS BOYS! SQUEEZE HARDER!!!!

 

[JimB]

i agree

You have to keep the hammer over their heads. there's no time to negoitate.

KIck their ass.

JimB