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LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, August 22, 2008
A
decision
by
House
Democrats
to
allow
a
vote
next
month
on
a
proposal
to
gut
the
city’s
handgun
law
has
stunned
local
home
rule
advocates
and
could
foretell
a
congressional
overturn
of
a
future
same-sex
marriage
bill,
according
to
city
hall
insiders.
Developments
surrounding
proposed
House
action
to
weaken
the
city’s
controversial
handgun
law
come
at
a
time
when
some
gay
activists
are
urging
Mayor
Adrian
Fenty
and
the
D.C.
Council
to
approve
legislation
legalizing
same-sex
marriage
in
the
District.
Members
of
the
Council
are
said
to
be
considering
introducing
a
same-sex
marriage
bill
next
year.
“The
issue
at
hand
is
not
so
much
gun-related
as
it
is
ensuring
that
District
of
Columbia
elected
officials
be
able
to
discharge
the
duties
for
which
their
constituents
elected
them,”
said
Fenty
and
City
Council
Chair
Vincent
Gray
(D-At-Large)
in
a
letter
to
House
Democrats
opposing
congressional
action
on
the
gun
law.
Fenty
and
Gray,
along
with
nearly
all
other
members
of
the
13-member
D.C.
Council,
have
said
they
would
back
a
same-sex
marriage
bill
if
they
determined
that
Congress
would
not
take
steps
to
kill
the
legislation.
Congress
has
the
authority
to
overturn
any
D.C.
law
as
well
as
prevent
Council-approved
bills
from
becoming
law.
A
coalition
of
local
gay
groups,
led
by
the
Gay
&
Lesbian
Activists
Alliance,
have
laid
the
groundwork
for
a
D.C.
same-sex
marriage
bill
over
the
past
10
years,
but
advised
city
officials
that
it
was
too
risky
to
pass
such
a
bill
when
Republicans
controlled
Congress.
Activists
argued
a
gay
marriage
bill
could
trigger
conservative
Republican
leaders
to
impose
a
congressional
prohibition
on
same-sex
marriage
in
the
city.
Beginning
in
January
2007,
when
Democrats
took
control
of
Congress,
local
activists
looked
toward
advancing
some
form
of
same-sex
marriage
recognition
in
the
District,
including
the
possibility
of
legalizing
same-sex
marriage.
And
with
Democrats
poised
to
increase
their
majorities
in
Congress
in
the
November
election,
activists
and
their
City
Council
allies
were
considering
moving
ahead
with
a
marriage
bill
sometime
in
2009,
under
the
assumption
that
House
and
Senate
Democratic
leaders
would
block
attempts
by
anti-gay
lawmakers
to
overturn
a
D.C.
gay
marriage
bill.
But
the
recent
decision
by
House
Democratic
leaders
to
relinquish
their
hold
on
a
bill
that
would
weaken
the
city’s
handgun
law,
thereby
allowing
pro-gun
lawmakers
to
schedule
a
vote
on
the
bill,
raises
questions
about
whether
Democrats
would
allow
a
similar
vote
to
overturn
a
D.C.
same-sex
marriage
bill.
House
Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi
(D-Calif.)
and
other
House
Democratic
leaders
said
they
oppose
congressional
interference
on
any
local
D.C.
laws
or
legislation,
including
gun
control
measures.
But
Pelosi
and
her
Democratic
colleagues
were
forced
to
back
down
from
a
hold
they
had
placed
on
the
House
D.C.
gun
bill
after
at
least
48
House
Democrats
signed
a
discharge
petition
initiated
by
Republicans
and
conservative
Democrats
seeking
to
force
Pelosi
to
allow
a
vote
on
the
bill.
Under
longstanding
House
rules,
a
discharge
petition
signed
by
at
least
218
House
members
triggers
an
automatic
vote
on
the
specified
bill,
bypassing
the
normal
committee
process
and
stripping
the
authority
of
the
majority
party
to
block
such
a
bill.
Anticipating
that
supporters
of
the
gun
bill
would
obtain
the
needed
218
signatures
on
the
discharge
petition,
Pelosi
arranged
for
a
House
floor
vote
in
September
on
a
less
sweeping
version
of
the
bill.
The
flap
over
the
city’s
gun
law
surfaced
after
the
U.S.
Supreme
Court
on
June
26
handed
down
a
precedent-setting
decision
overturning
a
32-year-old
city
law
that
banned
residents
from
keeping
handguns
in
their
homes.
The
high
court
ruling
allows
the
city
to
continue
to
ban
possession
of
guns
outside
the
home
and
set
certain
restrictions
on
gun
ownership
in
the
home.
The
D.C.
Council
responded
to
the
Supreme
Court
decision
by
passing
a
highly
restrictive
set
of
regulations
on
guns
in
the
home,
requiring
owners
to
disassemble
their
handguns
or
disable
them
with
trigger
locks
unless
the
resident
is
in
“imminent
danger.”
Gun
advocates
quickly
accused
the
city
of
violating
the
Supreme
Court
ruling
by
imposing
an
excessively
restrictive
set
of
regulations
on
handguns
in
the
home.
The
bill
set
to
come
up
for
a
vote
in
the
House
is
aimed
at
easing
those
restrictions
and
bringing
the
city
into
compliance
with
the
Supreme
Court
ruling,
according
to
backers
of
the
bill.
However,
the
bill
goes
a
step
further
by
repealing
the
city’s
ban
on
semiautomatic
handguns
in
the
home,
even
though
the
Supreme
Court
ruling
did
not
cover
semiautomatic
guns.
Del.
Eleanor
Holmes
Norton
(D-D.C.)
has
called
the
House
gun
bill
an
“unprecedented
attack”
on
the
city’s
home
rule
government
and
a
“radical”
move
that
diminishes
local
authority.
Norton
supports
same-sex
marriage
in
the
District,
but
has
warned
that
a
same-sex
marriage
bill
could
net
hostile
responses
from
some
members
of
Congress.
Norton
has
told
gay
activists
that
the
existing
Democratic
majority
in
the
House
includes
a
number
of
moderate
and
conservative
Democrats
who
represent
Republican-leaning
districts
where
same-sex
marriage
is
unpopular.
Stacy
Bernard,
a
spokesperson
for
House
Majority
Leader
Steny
Hoyer
(D-Md.),
said
Hoyer
is
a
“strong
supporter”
of
D.C.
home
rule
and
that
he
“will
work
to
oppose
infringements
on
that
principle.”
Bernard
said
Hoyer,
who
represents
a
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