As you may have heard, the Senate passed the DC Voting Rights Bill yesterday. Sen. John Ensign (R-Nevada) attached an amendment that would eliminate most of the District's gun laws, and prevent the DC Council from imposing new ones. Guns for Votes, a pretty sweet trade, and I hear it's working out pretty well over in Iraq. This amendment passed, and will need to be addressed during the conference committee with the House.A different amendment, introduced by John Kyl, would have given DC back to Maryland. That amendment failed, though 30 Senators did approve of giving the District to the State of Maryland without discussing the subject with anyone. Awesome.
In any event, this bill still has to get passed by the House (which it probably will) and then get signed by President Obama. Meanwhile people like Adrian Fenty will have to decide if they want guns or the vote.
I'll take both, please. I'm not particularly against the bill as-is. The amendment strikes down gun registration, and I have no idea what impact it would have on the possibility of concealed carry.
It is true that criminals will not register their guns, nor will they submit them to the police to put data about the gun into a forensic registry (what you have to do now). It is also true that if you required a permit for concealed carry, the "bad people" would likely not obtain a registration card.
However, imagine if they did! Imagine if all of the popular criminal stereotype people DID obtain concealed carry permits, so cops could no longer send them to jail for merely possessing a weapon. Imagine the entire DC blogosphere's head exploding.
BTW: Concealed carry and open carry are allowed in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and you don't particularly see wild west shootouts in even the shitty parts of Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax.
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ReplyDeleteWell, I heard that Rhode Island told Illinois that Maryland was definitely NOT going to take D.C., back and was all like, "WHATEVER."
ReplyDeleteI think we should outlaw ammo, personally. And then a lot of those guys would just be firing blanks at one another.... It'd be good drama, no?
ReplyDeleteWhere will DC's first gun range be located?
ReplyDeleteI nominate Wonderland.
HOW ABOUT GIVING NORTHWEST BACK TO IOWA OR NEBRASKA. ITS NOT LIKE THE TRANSPLANTS BOTHER GETTING DC IDS.
ReplyDeleteOMG! I totally have the best job in DC! I get to meet people from all over the world, I get paid pretty well, and I'm learning a bunch of things that will help me later in my career. I'm also working on my Law degree at Georgetown and that is totally the best school.
ReplyDeleteI go to a great church in DC on Sunday mornings and I totally love the sense of history and being part of that congregation. OMG! I almost forgot to mention that I love, love, LUV going out to eat with all my friends at all the restaurants and eateries in DC. We love to make the scene at whatever place is trendiest that week! OMG, I have the best life EVER since I left North Carolina. I'm totally a city person and can't believe how my parents live. What's up with THAT?!?
I guess the only downside is that I totally HATE DC and I would NEVER live there. I live in Arlington where I'm safe.
Washington, DC is filled with really unhappy people . . . so unhappy they simply can't bear to witness anything resembling happiness from people around them.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous makes a fair point. Shampoo does CLEAN the hair, after all.
ReplyDeleteFood for thought....
CONDITIONER IS BETTER THAN SHAMPOO!
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Bang, bang, mofos!
ReplyDeleteI live in DC. What part? Falls Church Virginia.
ReplyDeleteI love living in DC.
Hey heathens stop coughing around the office without covering your mouths like you were raised
ReplyDeletein a goddamn cave, some of us dislike being sick on the weekend!
If someone were to break in to my apt, I would love to shoot them in the fucking head. And I've never owned a gun in my life but if they're legal to have, I would definitely have one locked up somewhere in my place.
ReplyDeleteMetro sucks.
ReplyDeleteI live in Virginia near a Metro station.
The Metro station redeems me for my life choices.
But Metro sucks.
Are crossbows illegal in D.C.? I'm thinking of The Weatherman.
ReplyDeleteFYI it's legal to carry firearms on the Metro while in Virginia. Either concealed or openly (in a holster, for example).
ReplyDeleteWhen are we all going to eat together?
ReplyDeleteItalian sounds good.
Maybe Mexican.
But no Ethiopian because I am sure those damn darkies do not wash their hands and the food is probably dirty.
how about pasta mia, seems like a place a lot of hipster fucks would like.
ReplyDeleteI carry my love gun on me at all times inside my pants.
ReplyDeleteNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
ReplyDeleteAfrican or Caribbean food!
If wea ll went out to eat with each other somebody probably would end up getting either shot or shot at.
ReplyDeleteBut we can decrease the chances of any voilence happening though by not inviting any black people to our gathering.
how about pasta mia, seems like a place a lot of hipster fucks would like.
ReplyDelete--Shit. Been there, done that. 8 years ago. :) That place is still there?
If wea ll went out to eat with each other somebody probably would end up getting either shot or shot at.
ReplyDeleteBut we can decrease the chances of any voilence happening though by not inviting any black people to our gathering.
--Statistically, black men are seven times more likely to murder than a white man. But I don't appreciate these comments.... They are "divisive."
The Prince of Petworth is a fucking douchebag transplant pussy.
ReplyDeleteSigned,
The Duke of Deanwood
[The Prince of Petworth lowers his gaze at his computer, a sad looking lining his face. He knows.]
ReplyDeleteDude,
ReplyDeleteYou should get that printed on a T-shirt: Douchebag Transplant Pussy. White people will buy anything.
I will take three mediums and one large.
Guns for Votes? How quaint.
ReplyDeleteHow about we tell Congress to ignore the vote, ignore DC statehood, and just let us not pay federal taxes. I'd gladly not be represented in a body full of fuckholes if I didn't have to pay taxes.
ReplyDeleteno income tax in dc and all of a sudden every square inch of the city becomes gentrified, and even the fuckwits who live here will be priced out.
ReplyDeleteHow about we tell Congress to ignore the vote, ignore DC statehood, and just let us not pay federal taxes. I'd gladly not be represented in a body full of fuckholes if I didn't have to pay taxes.
ReplyDelete--Recipe for immediate gentrification. News flash: rich people don't like to pay taxes....
No one gets shot in the 'Fax. Unless, of course, it's over who wears the most Abercrombie or who has the best trucks on their skateboard.
ReplyDeleteWait, are we against gentrification in here?
ReplyDelete@bothsidesofthefence
ReplyDeleteremember that time that someone got attacked with a machete in merrifield? (true, machete != gun)
or when the cab driver was shot and killed at tysons?
or when that looneytunes guy shot up the police station?
"no income tax in dc and all of a sudden every square inch of the city becomes gentrified, and even the fuckwits who live here will be priced out."
ReplyDeleteI'd gladly be priced out, because it would mean some rich(er) fuck would have to buy me out.
Yeah, nuthin' bad ever happens in "The 'Fax"
ReplyDelete"Man kept illegal housekeepers in basement
The women were kept in a Falls Church, Va., basement and worked as housekeepers in Potomac, Md.
updated: Feb 26th - 10:27am "
Yeah.
ReplyDelete"User fees - not taxes - may go up in Fairfax County
Fairfax County officials are proposing property tax increases, job cuts and reduced services to close a $650 million budget gap.
updated: Feb 24th - 6:59am "
"Report: Slumping economy could increase Va. poverty
ReplyDeleteThe Commonwealth Institute says close to 700,000 Virginians live in poverty now.
updated: Feb 23rd - 10:09am "
"who has the best trucks on their skateboard."
ReplyDeleteWow. I just learned a new term.
I'm old.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteWait, are we against gentrification in here?
--I am neutral on the issue. Washington, D.C., is after all, an African American homeland. It's like a reservation that just got its own congressman.
Interesting that in Paris they do the opposite. Rich people live in the interior and they're surrounded by neighborhoods in which you just can't keep a car w/o it being burned down....
Well, it ain't the The 'Fax, but it is a reasonable facsimile. (since it is part of "The Washington Area")
ReplyDelete"Community concerned after 5 murders in 2 months
Prince William County Supervisor Martin Nohe has scheduled a town hall meeting to talk about personal protection and how the police have handled the crimes.
updated: Feb 19th - 1:10pm "
Apparently the Virginia chamber of commerce thread still rankles.
ReplyDelete"Washington, D.C., is after all, an African American homeland. It's like a reservation that just got its own congressman."
ReplyDeleteAh yes, However, two city councilmen (Thomas and Barry) flirted with forming a PAC two years ago in an attempt to reverse the trend which puts DC on a path to be a white majority city in this decade.
When the councilmen's idea made its way to publication in the Post, they immediately backed down.
"I'd gladly be priced out, because it would mean some rich(er) fuck would have to buy me out."
ReplyDeletemost transplants (as do poor people) rent so this would be irrelevant.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/us/16washington.html?_r=1
ReplyDeleteWashington’s Black Majority Is Shrinking
"most transplants (as do poor people) rent so this would be irrelevant."
ReplyDeleteI don't rent, so it isn't irrelevant to me.
just wait until your property taxes go up 10,000%
ReplyDeleteIf Washington, DC were made a state, it would have higher per capita income than New Jersey, and higher illiteracy than Mississippi.
ReplyDeleteI'm just sayin.
They'd have to set up some very strict regulations if they let DC residents stop paying federal taxes. They'd have to implement some rent-control policies, and establish a certain length of time for permanent residency, maybe like four years after you get a DC license, DC license plates and pay DC taxes, then you're considered a resident...that way no transient people living here would benefit.
ReplyDeleteBlah:
ReplyDeleteThis is the city that has its hands full operating a cab stand in Adams Morgan a couple times per week.
Good luck with all that.
Blah, no rent control for me thanks. I would love no federal taxes. Unfortunately, I could see them implementing price controls before I see them lifting the height limit outside of the "federal enclave".
ReplyDelete"Ah yes, However, two city councilmen (Thomas and Barry) flirted with forming a PAC two years ago in an attempt to reverse the trend which puts DC on a path to be a white majority city in this decade."
ReplyDeleteLink?
The Post has a better article about it, but I stopped looking for it after three minutes of Googling. I present to you an article in "The USA Today" instead:
ReplyDelete"The dwindling black population recently prompted council member Harry Thomas Jr. to call for the district's black officials to form an "African American Caucus" to push for legislation that supports black constituents."
D.C.'s majority-black status slipping away
Updated 9/1/2007 1:33 PM
By Brian Westley, Associated Press
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-09-01-dcdemographics_N.htm
"He expects the city will cease to be majority black by 2015."
ReplyDeleteInteresting. That is the year that a recent Dept. of Defense study concluded would see the arrival of Peak Oil.
What is Manassass going to look like then?