By Thomas Burr
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 03/04/2009 05:37:37 PM MST
Washington » This showdown harks to the grainy old Westerns: You want voting rights? Well, you're going to have to take them with a dose of cold steel and gunpowder.
A congressional duel is shaping up this week over whether to expand the U.S. House to include new seats for Utah and the District of Columbia. Where once the battle centered on the plan's constitutionality, it now hinges on something more basic and ballistic: guns.
On one side, minority Republicans -- no fans of giving Democratic D.C. a permanent seat -- say district residents will have to swallow boosted gun rights if they want their own, full-fledged House member.
On the other, majority Democrats -- willing to give Republican Utah an extra seat in exchange for D.C.'s long-sought representation -- say granting district residents a member of Congress shouldn't mean they have to shoot down a local handgun ban to do so.
Meanwhile, the Beehive State and its bid for a fourth House chair are stuck in the crossfire.
On Wednesday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., yanked the DC Voting Rights Act from the agenda, saying Democratic leaders need to chat about "outstanding matters."
Hoyer didn't elaborate, but it's clear he needs more time to figure out how to keep a raft of moderates on board after Senate Republicans successfully saddled the DC-Utah bill with an amendment that would force the district to embrace
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gun rights.
House Republicans are gearing up to compel the same vote in their chamber, with the National Rifle Association reportedly waiting to "score" the tally in its annual evaluations of congressional members. The message to lawmakers: Vote to include the gun amendment to advance the DC bill and land yourself on the wrong side of the NRA.
On Capitol Hill, bucking the gun lobby is tantamount to political suicide for Republicans and some moderate Democrats.
Rookie Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican who testified against the DC Voting Rights Act, says pushing gun rights on the district is fair because the Supreme Court ruled last year that D.C.'s long-standing handgun ban was unlawful.
"It's a very real issue, and I'm glad it's got some muscle behind it," Chaffetz said. "Washington, D.C., is not adhering to what the Supreme Court said it had to do."
Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, supports the D.C. -Utah bill and, according to his office, would vote for a gun-rights amendment.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, who wholeheartedly endorses the DC Voting Rights Act, also backs the gun provision.
"The gun amendment passed rather strongly, and I think there's a lot of feeling about it, both ways," the Utah Republican said last week. "Personally, I feel like we should not interfere with the right to keep and bear arms, and I feel like this town would be better off if we do" restore those rights to D.C.
Hatch has served as a key supporter of the DC Voting Rights Act since the measure needed GOP clout to clear the Senate.
The handgun ban in the District of Columbia, which suffers one of the nation's highest per-capita crime rates, long has been a GOP talking point. Republicans used the same issue in 2007 to temporarily block a version of the DC Voting Rights Act from gaining House approval.
But this time, the move ultimately may derail the entire bill if Democrats can't get their legislation to a final vote without some GOP procedural tampering.
For the record, there is no attempt by the Republicans to force any gun-rights provisions onto Utah. That may stem from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence ranking the state 43rd among 50 in limitations on firearms. Out of a possible 100 points for passing laws to restrict guns, Utah earned four points.
