NRA vs. Gun Rights?

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Last week, I noted that a bill sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to repeal the D.C. gun ban, while good in itself, was rather badly timed because it would moot a strong Second Amendment suit aimed at the same target. Unlike legislation, which could be repealed at any time, a court victory would establish an important and binding legal precedent in favor of individual gun rights.

Cato scholars Gene Healy and Bob Levy have an op-ed in the Washington Times today arguing that the bill is a deliberate attempt by the NRA to derail their suit. The gun rights group had previously tried to force a consolidation of the suit with one of their own, which raised a long list of objections beyond the Second Amendment claim. The Hatch bill was proposed a mere week after that gambit failed.