But when viewed from another perspective – that of the District’s history – the decision appears to have been virtually inevitable.

The plaintiffs in Heller vs. DC claimed to have targeted the District because our gun laws were the most restrictive in the nation. But their path was smoothed by the long campaign against DC’s gun laws carried out by pro-gun organizations, especially the National Rifle Association (NRA), and their allies in Congress – a campaign that failed legislatively but ultimately triumphed through litigation. The weapon they used to attack the District was our colonial status – that is, the fact that Congress has legislative authority over DC, but DC has no representation in that same Congress.

Thirty-two years ago, the DC Council – still in the infancy of the limited home rule granted the District in 1974 – enacted strong restrictions on handguns to address the threat they posed to the peace and safety of our neighborhoods. From the very beginning, members of Congress eager to curry favor with the NRA and other gun lovers (among the most eager members being Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX and Reps. Virgil Goode, R-VA and Duncan Hunter, R-CA) schemed to overturn the work of our local elected officials. There were tough gun laws in other states and localities, but because of states’ rights those laws were off-limits. But the District, not being a state and subject to the whims of Congress, was fair game.

The hard work of non-voting DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and her predecessor Walter Fauntroy, along with the support of friendly members of Congress, helped save our guns laws from congressional veto. Also active in defending DC’s right to enact its own gun laws have been such organizations as the Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition, the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area, and Empower DC. But the attacks on the District over all those years easily translated into legal briefs once the legislative battle turned litigious.

The Supreme Court’s decision is an outrage against democracy not only because it overrides a law enacted by the DC Council on behalf of its constituents, but also because the District – having no vote in the Senate -- had no say in the makeup of the Court, whose members must be confirmed by the Senate. The Court’s decision is a reminder of the shortcomings of the recently defeated bill in Congress for a single vote in the House, which would not have protected us from interference by Congress nor given us a voice in nominations to the federal courts.

Even now, members of Congress are plotting to usurp the DC Council’s authority by imposing its own brand-new, Heller-friendly gun laws on the District. This truly would add insult to injury. It’s time for the citizens of the District to cry “Enough!”

In 1980 the citizens of the District voted overwhelmingly to make DC the 51^st state. Statehood – and only statehood – will provide full representation in Congress as well as the effective local self-government enjoyed by all other taxpaying Americans. We need to raise our voices to the sky so that Congress can no longer ignore our demands for equality.

We need to stop settling for less than full citizenship. Statehood must be our demand – and our future.

Bill Mosley is a member of the Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition.