The House voted on Wednesday to pass a budget amendment that would block nearly all the District of Columbia’s gun regulations, leaving only federal gun laws in place. The amendment restricts funding used to enforce district gun laws, such as bans on high-capacity magazines, “assault” rifles and registration requirements.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced and advanced the amendment, which passed by a vote of 241 to 181. "It is time for Congress to step in and stop the D.C. government's harassment and punishment of law-abiding citizens who simply want to defend themselves," Massie said in a statement.

Gun control advocates are not pleased with Massie's amendment. "It is incomprehensible that a first-term representative from Kentucky – a state with more gun deaths than the District – thinks he can come into the District to force his values on a community about which he knows nothing," said Josh Horwitz, the executive director the Coalition to Stop Violence. "It’s now up to the Senate to stop this madness."

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Some see the amendment to the district's budget as a way for the Republican-controlled House to advance its case on national issues. Speaking to WTOP News, Washington Mayor Vince Gray stated, “We are not a toy, not a pawn, and we deserve to be treated as Americans.” Democratic D.C. delegate Eleanor Norton Holmes also decried the measure, saying, “It’s a flagrant abuse of democracy by a member who comes here with a tea party principle that says power should be devolved to the local level.”

But Massie and other Republicans contend that D.C.’s gun laws are just too burdensome. “Why would the D.C. government want to harass and punish law-abiding residents that just want to defend themselves?” asked Massie. “Strict gun-control laws do nothing but prevent good people from being able to protect themselves and their families.”

The amendment follows another Republican-backed rider that prevents decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana in the district. The spending bill, riders included, passed by a vote of 228 to 195. However, the budget is not expected to make it through the Senate as is (GovTrack.us estimates it has a 28 percent chance of being enacted), and the White House has already said it would veto the House version.

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If the latest amendment becomes law, Washington City Paper reports that D.C.’s gun laws would be less restrictive than those in Rep. Massie’s largest jurisdiction, Kenton County, Ky. Residents there need to apply for a concealed carry permit, which is not the case under federal law and thus would not apply to D.C. residents. In a parenthetical aside, City Paper notes, “(So if Massie really wants to find some local gun laws to overturn, perhaps he could start back home?)”

Washington, D.C. has some of the strictest gun laws in the U.S., yet it consistently ranks high among U.S. cities with the most gun violence. A D.C. police report from 2011 says 71 percent of the 108 homicides committed that year used a firearm as the primary weapon.

So what do you think? Was the House right to block D.C.’s gun laws? Vote and comment below.

