Gun mayhem for DC voting rights: Will Republicans still push this 'bargain' after Va Tech?

[ProgressiveEconomist]

A post-Virginia-Tech-massacre test of political strength for the gun lobby may be imminent.

Last month, the culmination of years of effort to end "Taxation Without Representation" (the DC license-plate motto) was tabled when Republicans amended the bill, tying DC voting rights to repeal of DC's strict gun control laws. Speaker Pelosi had the presence of mind to table the voing rights measure before Republicans could terminate it with thieir poison-pill.

Will the Virginia Tech massacre allow a clean DC Voting Rights bill to be reintroduced?

From http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/03/22/ap3544526.html :

"House Postpones Vote on D.C., Utah Seats

Associated Press

By JIM ABRAMS 03.22.07

Legislation to give the District of Columbia a full vote in the U.S. House stalled Thursday when Republicans unexpectedly injected the volatile issue of gun control. Apparently fearful they might lose control of the proceedings, Democrats decided to put off action indefinitely on the voting rights measure, which had appeared to be moving toward passage.

Republicans protested the delay and sought a quick vote on their attempt to repeal the capital city's ban on handguns. Democratic leaders "shamefully exploited a rule to kill debate and postpone the vote indefinitely," said Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio. ...

The developments marked an abrupt turn on legislation that would give district residents voting rights in the House for the first time in more than two centuries. President Bush has threatened to veto the bill, saying the Constitution allows congressional voting representation only to states. Democrats, backed by civil rights groups, viewed the issue differently. "It is an historic day, it is a day when the people of the District of Columbia will finally have their voices heard," Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said moments before the postponement. Added House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.: "Washington, D.C., is the only capital in a democracy in the entire world that does not have a voting representative in its parliament." But Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said that since the city "is not a state, it cannot have a voting member in the House."

The legislation also would create an additional seat in the House, temporarily awarded to Utah pending the next reapportionment in 2010. The legislation would not change the makeup of the Senate, where the district has no representation. Debate appeared to be winding down when Republicans exercised their prerogative to outline a proposal to block city officials from any attempt to ban firearms permissible under federal law. The ban is under attack in the courts, and a federal appeals court recently struck down the city's gun law. ..."

[aquart]

1. Of course they will.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

9. I'm not so sure. An annual NRA meeting happened to coincide with Columbine

eight years ago, and IIRC that tragedy restrained their political moves -- for awhile.. They NRA and the rest of the gun lobby may be act like cockroaches when the lights come on.

[Ian David]

2. You know what's going to happen?

Not stricter gun laws.

They're going to start doing background checks on college applicants.

I predict that ChoicePoint, the company that purges voter registration laws, will get the contract.

They're going to suppress the minority enrollment the same way they suppress the minority vote.

Kids from tough neighborhoods who may have made a bad choice or two are going to lose their shot at a second chance.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

4. To a great extent, this has already happened, by act of Congress

Young people who've had brushes with the law and subsequently cleaned up their act are inelgible for Pell Grants and other government-backed loans. An Afirican American of college age is far more likely to be in prison than in college, and almost ten times more likely to be in prison than a Caucasian male in the same age group.

[Ian David]

6. That statistic you cited is misleading. I know, because I was mislead by it, too...

and cited it myself until someone set me straight.

I don't have time to go googling right now, but go double-check the statement that "An Afirican American of college age is far more likely to be in prison than in college."

[ProgressiveEconomist]

8. It's crucial to distinguish between MEN of college age and HS GRADUATES

OFF-TOPIC:

of college age. African-Americans disappear from the college-bound path overwhelmingly becasue they do not graduate from high school.

IIRC, roughly half of all HS GRADUATES, African-American or White, attend some postsecondary education. But for Whites, it's half of 90-some percent that are going to college, while for African-Americans, it's half of a much smaller percentage. Meanwhile, double-digit percentages of African-American young men are in prison at any moment, and a very high percentage are imprisoned at some point during their college-age years.

I don't remember the figures exactly, but you can find them at http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school.html .

[katty]

5. agree-and Gonzales w/use this tragedy to resign-w/out questions

[virginia mountainman]

3. Whats wrong with that??

Let the DC voters have both!

The vote, and the right to defend themselves! Since when did we Democrats become the anti-Bill of Rights party, I prefer to let the Rupukes be known for that.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

7. Only in America would the dominant political party be arguing that there is

no inherent right for citizens to vote, but that there IS an unquesitoned right of indiscriminate ownership and possession of firearms of unlimited capacity and firepower!