Congress recently denied a single House vote to the 600,000 American citizens of the Nation’s Capital, inserting a Poison Pill amendment into the bill, a measure repealing local safety laws regulating firearms in this densely populated city. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jon Tester (D-MT) would now shove that pill down DC’s gullet without the House vote sweetener.
Unsurprisingly, both senators are up for re-election. Mr. McCain needs to butch up his conservative cred and thinks guns will help. Guns are certainly helping his opponent , J.D. Hayworth; conservative gun apostles endorse him. Senator Tester, a former music teacher, seems like a nice guy forced by politics to pretend he thinks Washington (population 600,000) is Big Sandy, Montana (population 614).
So the taxpayers of the District of Columbia can’t have representation but can have guns forced on them against their will. Senators McCain and Tester should heed the words of their colleague, the late Arthur Capper, five-term Republican senator from Kansas and twice that state’s governor:
“It is apparent that Congress intended to change the political status of the District in some degree from the beginning…. If anything ever was worth fighting for it is national representation for the District of Columbia. And I am confident that finally your campaign will be victorious, as it well deserves to be. In my State, if its 2,000,000 inhabitants were told that they could have no voice in the Government which they are taxed to support, I know what would quickly happen. An army would be organized, and it would march across the plains to the Capital of the country and enforce its rights. Of course, I do not recommend for you an appeal to arms. But you must all be aggressive to secure for yourselves that which is rightfully yours.”
— U.S. Senator Arthur Capper, in a 1938 speech to the Columbia Historical Society (emphasis added).
Guns for DC? Think about it.
Image by Mike Licht and the Australian Imperial Forces. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license. Credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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Tags: DC, District of Columbia, firearms, Guns, handguns, John McCain, Jon Tester, McCain, Senate, Tester, Washington DC
NotionsCapital 
April 28, 2010 at 9:50 am
Except for the fact that DC is outnumbered about 600 to one, that might have already happened.
What DC does have is strategic location, and the moral high ground. Now, before they INSIST on arming the disgruntled populace, they ought carefully to consider the consequences, in all respects.
April 28, 2010 at 10:32 am
citizenw: Sentors McCain and Testor would allow firearms into Washington’s public placesdespite the fact that DC’s city hall, the Wilson Building, was attacked by Hanafi Muslims with assault weapons in 1977.
The senators lack the courage of their convictions, proposing a continued ban on guns in the federal buiildings where they work.
April 28, 2010 at 11:07 am
Who is “forcing” guns on DC? I live in the District and would like to exercise the RIGHT to purchase a firearm without the “money test” put in place by the council to keep poor people from defending themselves.
Plus, if you read the bill instead of swallowing EHN’s crap, you would see that DC could still ban guns from sensitive places and give DC the right to control carry licenses.
April 28, 2010 at 12:53 pm
DCGuy writes:
Who is “forcing” guns on DC?
The same US Congress that denies representation to the taxpaying US citizens of the Nations Capital.
I live in the District and would like to exercise the RIGHT to purchase a firearm …
Excercise your rights under the 2nd Amendment — join your local well-regulated militia. Sign up here.
… without the “money test” put in place by the council …
To attend a firearms safety class. Perhaps the DC Council can add a marksmanship test as well, a “road test” for a gun permit.
Don’t like current DC laws? Vote for DC officials who share your views or run for office yourself, but don’t let members of a Congress you don’t have a vote in write your city’s laws.