sisyphusshrugged | not enough people in Washington being shot to death

So the House GOP is bringing the Lee Boyd Malvo bill to the floor, and the Senate GOP would like to help. (Special bonus: bill's sponsor claims that the desire of the largely african-american population of DC not to see their children cut down by automatic weapon fire is akin to the desire to own slaves)

A majority of the U.S. House of Representatives is supporting legislation that would repeal virtually all of the District's gun restrictions, targeting one of the nation's most stringent handgun bans while the presidential candidates are battling over gun limits.

Rep. Mark Edward Souder (R-Ind.) said House Republican leaders have promised him a vote before the Nov. 2 election on his proposed D.C. Personal Protection Act, which would end a ban on handguns in the nation's capital; remove a prohibition against semiautomatic weapons; lift registration requirements for ammunition and other firearms; and cancel criminal penalties for possessing unregistered firearms and carrying a handgun in one's home or workplace.

Souder's bill also would deny the District's elected officials "authority to enact laws or regulations that discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms." The legislation has 228 co-sponsors, more than enough to clear the 435-member House.

Both sides say prospects for passage are dubious in the U.S. Senate, where advocates of gun restrictions prevailed on two high-profile votes in March. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has sponsored a bill similar to Souder's that is languishing in a panel headed by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Souder, who lives in Northern Virginia when Congress is in session, said his proposal is based on the Second Amendment's guarantee of gun rights. "This is a constitutional issue, not a home rule question," Souder said. "The fact is, we didn't allow the District to have home rule on the selling of slaves, either.