D.C. citizens may finally get gun rights

The New York Times editorial board has got their panties all in a wad again over a new gun law, so it must be good news for gun owners.

Congress is considering a bill that appears likely to pass that would finally give Washington D.C. residents their constitutional right to bear arms that the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled is rightfully theirs in the D.C. vs. Heller case. The D.C. council has been dragging their feet since the ruling, still refusing to allow district residents to lawfully own firearms, even in their own homes much less in concealed carry out on the streets.

So Congress in stepping in. Though I’ve not read the bill’s particulars, if 50 Democrats and the GOP are for it and the NYT is against it, I’m for it.

In high snit (or as we say down South, “throwing a hissy fit”) the NYT board proclaims:

This extreme bill goes way beyond what the high court required. Among other things, it would repeal a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons and eliminate firearm registration requirements, even for such things as sniper rifles and small, easily concealed semiautomatic handguns. Under the lunatic logic of this bill, made to order for the gun lobby, such rifles could be toted around on the street fully loaded.

The bill currently has the support of about 50 Democrats and most Republicans, so it will be hard to stop approval in the House. Many members, running for re-election in communities that are heavily opposed to gun control, simply will not challenge the National Rifle Association.

Ooh! Sniper rifles! Assault weapons! Easily concealed handguns! Sounds like a pretty good bill to me. And that snippy part about the “lunatic logic” of openly toting a fully loaded rifle on the street? In every state of the Union, that’s known as “open carry.” It’s also known as “hunting.”