CONGRESS’S DUTY TO D.C. RESIDENTS: A good observation in the Washington Post:

Last month, the Supreme Court affirmed that Americans have an individual right under the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms.

Just as with the First Amendment, it matters not a whit whether we reside in the state of Indiana or the District of Columbia. We are protected by the same Bill of Rights.

Sadly, since the announcement of the Heller decision, we have seen the D.C. Council continue to thumb its nose at the Constitution and defy a clear Supreme Court order by largely maintaining its draconian handgun ban.

Moreover, when Congress chose to delegate home rule to the District in the 1970s, it specified that legislation enacted by the District must be “consistent with the Constitution of the United States,” and it “reserve[d] the right, at any time, to exercise its constitutional authority as legislature for the District, by enacting legislation for the District on any subject.”

Yes, Congress has a duty to step in and protect constitutional rights against a local government engaging in a campaign of “massive resistance” to a Supreme Court decision recognizing those rights.