Robert Novak has an interesting piece in today’s Washington Post about Sen. Barack Obama and the Second Amendment case from DC.

If Senator Obama is “doing the gun dance,� then he’s in step with most of the American people. A recent poll by the Washington Post indicated that while 72% felt the Second Amendment provided an “individual right,� 59% also supported gun restrictions as strong as those in the District of Columbia. The crucial issue to be faced after the Supreme Court announces its decision in the D.C. v. Heller case is what reasonable restrictions will meet Constitutional muster in the future.

It says something about the current state of the politics of gun control that all three remaining Presidential candidates favor reasonable restrictions on gun ownership. Senator Obama, for example, supports banning assault weapons, opposes the Tiahrt restrictions against sharing crime gun trace data, supports limiting handgun purchases to one per month, and supports closing the gun show loophole. (Presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain also supports requiring criminal background checks by unlicensed dealers at gun shows).

As for the next primary state, Pennsylvania, the state with supposedly the highest per capita NRA membership, gun control supporters regularly win there statewide: Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, Al Gore (against strong NRA opposition) in 2000, and John Kerry in 2004.

Even more telling, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell – someone who just two years ago said, “I believe with all my heart that we need more gun control� – has won two gubernatorial elections against NRA-endorsed opponents, beating Mike Fisher in 2002 by nine points and Lynn Swann in 2006 by 20 points.

Support for common sense gun control should be a vote-winning issue for most candidates.

(Note to readers: This entry, along with past entries, has been co-posted on bradycampaign.org/blog and the Huffington Post.)

In less than a week, two disturbed gunmen used military-style assault weapons to murder 12 people in America – first in Omaha, then in Colorado.

These shootings continue a long trail of carnage that included the Virginia Tech campus eight months ago. The shooter there used semi-automatic pistols and high-capacity ammunition magazines to fire almost 175 rounds [pdf] in about ten minutes. He shot 49 people and killed 32 in the worst mass-shooting in modern American history.

All this violence and bloodshed calls out for decisive action, but too many of our nation’s leaders have turned a deaf ear.

In almost two weeks from now, the first votes will be cast in the 2008 presidential election as part of caucuses across the state of Iowa. Homes, church basements and community centers will play host to thousands of committed citizens who will stand in front of their neighbors and openly make their choice for President.

Iowans will stand up and be counted. Today, I challenge the Presidential candidates to do the same.

I challenge them to stand up and support meaningful action to reduce gun violence in America.

• I challenge them to work for a strong and permanent ban on military-style assault weapons [pdf]. Why do we allow weapons of war on our streets which make it easier to kill more people, more quickly? This is America, not Iraq. Restricting assault weapons has been favored in this country for many years, by margins of greater than 2 to 1 [pdf]. The Omaha shooter apparently got his AK-47 from a closet at his step-father’s house. Why was that weapon there and easily available to this disturbed 19-year-old?

• I challenge the candidates to support the NICS Improvement Act of 2007. The Virginia Tech shooter was able to buy his guns because Virginia didn’t put his information in the system used to check gun buyers. We should do all we can to encourage states to supply records of the dangerously mentally ill and other “prohibited purchasersâ€� (felons, domestic abusers, etc.) to the Brady background check system. Now is the time to pass this bill and send it to the President for his signature.

• I challenge the candidates to support the Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2007. We can close the “terror gapâ€� in this country that allows a suspected terrorist to walk out of a gun store fully armed. This is basic common sense. It’s harder to get on an airline than it is to buy a gun for these individuals.

• I challenge the candidates to support legislation to require background checks for all gun sales in America. People like the Columbine killers and drug gangsters get their guns from so-called “private sellersâ€� at gun shows. If we agree that felons and other dangerous people shouldn’t be able to buy guns, then this loophole must be closed.

• I challenge the candidates to support legislation to limit bulk purchases of guns. Gun traffickers take advantage of weak laws to buy unlimited quantities of handguns, which they sell in the illegal market to criminals who terrorize too many of our communities. Let’s cut into the illegal gun trade to protect ourselves and our police [pdf].

Our weak national gun laws have helped lead to unnecessary suffering. I challenge the candidates for President to do something about it.

Now is the time to take real action to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of dangerous people.

Now is the time to stand up for public safety and common sense, and against the gun pushers.

Now is the time for all Presidential candidates to stand up and be counted.

(Note to readers: This entry, along with past entries, has been co-posted on bradycampaign.org/blog and the Huffington Post.)

Based on a handwritten legal opinion issued last week by a Judge in Winnebago County, Illinois, the state of Illinois could now allow 10-month old children who get FOID cards to keep 9mm pistols in their baby carriages as long as the holster covers the gun and the ammo clip is in a separate pouch.

Does this really make sense to some people? If the goal is “all guns, all the time,� then I guess the answer is, “yes.�

And speaking of protection for our babies… In last night’s Democratic Presidential debate, a YouTube user asked Governor Bill Richardson and Senator Joseph Biden how they would keep his “baby� safe. Here’s the question and their responses.

I was glad to hear Governor Richardson support Brady background checks for all gun sales, including those at gun shows. Senator Biden’s comments helped focus the concerns that many of us have about how easy it is for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons.

Let’s hope we see more discussion about these issues as the campaigns continue.