Local controllers strike again

Fresh from their victory for assault weapon enthusiasts everywhere, the House Republican Leadership - apparently unconcerned with their street cred as advocates for local control - is now working to remove the District of Columbia gun ban, the Washington Post reports. Ostensibly to shore up support in their conservative gun-related base, the GOP is hoping their bill to repeal the locally-passed District gun ban will be a hit for all their gun-related supporters. Most of which - and I'm guessing here - are not located in the District of Columbia.

House Republicans of late have had less than a passing acquaintance with their old party standards of local control and limited federal government, and this latest effort underscores that nicely. Congressman Mark Edward Souder (R-IN) told the Post, however:

"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."

Huh? Apparently in Souder's mind, the right to bear arms is comparable to the non-right to, uh, sell slaves? Souder goes on to patronize District denizens further:

For the 14th time in 15 years, they have the murder capital of the world title. At some point you say, 'This isn't working.'"

Souder and the Republicans are not only reversing locally-set policy for their own political gain, they're doing it in the well-played role of the scolding father. "They," being District residents, I assume, haven't been able to solve the problem, so Congress will. By adding more guns.

Now, I'll grant that the guns=safety argument is vintage Republican, but the "let Congress fix your problem" is decidedly not. Plus I'd bet Indiana residents would be slightly annoyed if Souder was advocating for Congressional repeal of Ft. Wayne laws. If I were Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), I'd write up a couple bills to that effect.

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Local control, or local controllers?