Last week, gun owners secured a major victory when 62 Senators – a strong bipartisan majority – voted in favor of an amendment that would repeal Washington DC’s draconian gun laws to a bill that would give the District of Columbia a voting seat in the House of Representatives. (The new post-Heller laws are nearly as bad as the outright gun ban, and are the subject of yet another lawsuit which has yet to be heard.) The Senate made clear to the leaders of the District that if they want to have a vote in the United States Congress that they must honor the Bill of Rights.
However, Nancy Pelosi, fearing the same amendment would be added in the House, actually pulled the bill from the calendar in order to have time to pressure members. This morning, the Washington Post published an article that gives us an idea of what Pelosi’s is doing in the House. Left-leaning groups are putting pressure on 60 moderate Democrats to try and pull away the 28 votes they need to avoid having the amendment attached on the House floor. Many Pennsylvania Congressmen are likely in those targeted by these groups. They are being told that people back home don’t care about gun rights, and that their seats are in no danger from a pro-gun backlash.
This battle over a local Second Amendment issue will have repercussions on the entire country, and will definitely effect the 2010 elections. It is critically important that gun owners contact their members of Congress. You can find your member here. We must demonstrate to Congress that the threat from gun owners is real, and that we are watching what they are doing.
