Let Washington Lead the Way on Gun Rights

From National Review:

Because of his circumspect views on foreign policy, Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) isn’t every conservative’s cup of Tea Party tea as a presidential candidate. Whether this assumes a not entirely fair or accurate take on Senator Paul’s foreign-policy views is a debate for another time; with his introduction of the Defend Our Capital Act of 2015, the gentleman from Kentucky reminds us of why he is an invaluable senator, whatever becomes of his presidential aspirations.

The Defend Our Capital Act seeks to put into law the radical notion that Americans’ federal civil rights, as understood by the Supreme Court, apply in the federal District of Columbia, including their right to keep and bear arms. The Supreme Court has unequivocally recognized an individual right to keep and bear arms in Heller (a right incorporated against the states under the Fourteenth Amendment in the later McDonald decision), but the District of Columbia has, it its mulishness, persisted in preventing Americans there from exercising their rights. Being a federal enclave rather than a state, the District of Columbia is directly answerable to Congress, and Senator Paul’s bill would straighten out D.C. on several particulars related to Second Amendment rights.
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Senator Paul’s bill would require the District of Columbia to begin issuing concealed-carry permits (which still would put black Washingtonians at a disadvantage vis-à-vis the whiter-than-white population of Bernie Sanders’s Vermont, where no such permit is required), strip away the most restrictive and obviously unconstitutional of the district’s firearms prohibitions, and require the district to recognize concealed-carry permits issued by the states. It would also ease some important federal restrictions beyond the District of Columbia, permitting those legally entitled to carry guns to do so on federal property (with some exceptions for sensitive sites) and allowing for firearms sales across state lines.

One of the priceless things about libertarian-leaning Republicans such as Senator Paul is the way they bring out the totalitarian leanings in the Democrats. And those have become, unhappily, significant. The Democrats, in spite of two Supreme Court rulings affirming the individual right to keep and bear arms, insist on preserving and enacting legislation that curtails Americans’ constitutional rights in a way that heavily disadvantages minority communities, especially African-Americans, against whom picayune firearms laws are enforced with sometimes savage vigor.

Consider the case of the black Marine veteran and double amputee on his way to Walter Reed Hospital who was viciously prosecuted (Editor's Note: Remember David Gregory got a pass)when his car broke down and it was discovered he had a gun (legally permitted in his home state of Ohio) in the vehicle. Why did he bring his gun? He was anticipating a lengthy stay in the military hospital and had packed most of his worldly possessions, including his pistol. He ended up having to defend himself in court when his public defender pressured him to plead guilty and the government threatened him with the loss of his disability benefits for an injury sustained defending his country while at war. That’s the kind of prosecution Democrats are fighting for and Senator Paul is fighting against. The Democrats talk a good game about excessive policing and promiscuous incarceration, but try exercising your constitutional rights in the District of Columbia and you’ll see where that gets you.

Paul should have called the bill, "Defend our Civil Rights in the Capitol Act."