WHY OBAMA SUPPORTS D.C. GUN BAN

Robert Novak’s column today notes that Obama is a little vague regarding where he stands on the Washington D.C. outright ban on handgun possession in the nation’s capital:

“Barack Obama, who informs campaign audiences that he taught constitutional law for 10 years, might be expected to weigh in on the historic Second Amendment case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices are pondering whether the 1976 District of Columbia law effectively prohibiting personal gun ownership in the nation's capital is constitutional. But Obama has not stated his position.

“Obama, disagreeing with the D.C. government and gun control advocates, declares the Second Amendment's ''right of the people to keep and bear arms'' applies to individuals, not just the ''well-regulated militia'' cited in the amendment. In the next breath, he says this constitutional guarantee does not preclude local ''common sense'' restrictions on firearms. Does the prohibition for Washington fit that description? My attempts to get an answer have proved unavailing. The front-running Democratic presidential candidate is doing the gun dance.”

But based on Obama’s past history—which is the best indication of his real views on gun control—he would be 100% for the ban, that is if he was not currently engaged in a close battle for Pennsylvania delegates in that gun friendly state.

As Politico reported on March 31, 2008, in 1996 Obama—who was seeking the endorsement of a liberal nonprofit group in Chicago—filled out their questionnaire twice; one version contains his handwritten comments.

In both versions, Obama pledged his support for state legislation that would ban the possession, sale or manufacture of handguns of any kind. (See amended version of the questionnaire, which appears to contain Obama’s own handwritten notes added to one answer.)

Then, as constitutional law professor Eugene Volokh’s blog reported on February 18, 2008 (and as also reported in the Chicago Defender, Dec. 13, 1999), in 1998 Obama supported sweeping federal anti-gun legislation.

Obama’s anti-gun law proposed to, among other things: 1. Increase the federal tax on gun sales by 500%; 2. Ban gun sales within a FIVE MILE RADIUS of a school or a park (in other words, just about everywhere); 3. Make it a felony for a gun owner whose firearm was stolen from his residence which is later used by third parties to cause harm to another person, if that weapon was not "securely stored" in that home.

Therefore, how Obama really feels about the D.C. gun ban is not hard to divine. Sure, candidates’ positions “evolve”, but be very suspicious if the “evolution” occurs suddenly and in the direction of public opinion in a state that the candidate is seeking to win over. And we seriously doubt that Obama’s true position on banning guns has changed that radically in the last 10 years.