March 23, 2008 10:45PM 

# DC’s Apathetic, Complacent Nonproducers ♥ Snow Jobs 

By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) 

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I just came across this letter I wrote to the editor of the *Washington Post*. Sadly, the editor declined to publish it. Since the Supreme Court just heard oral arguments about the D.C. gun ban and the meaning of the Second Amendment in *[District of Columbia v. Heller](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9285)*, it remains relevant:

> On January 5, we learned that District officials filed a brief with the Supreme Court \[“[Gun Law Prevents Harm, D.C. Argues](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010402538.html),” Jan. 5\] defending the city’s gun ban on the grounds that: the Second Amendment does not protect an individual right to keep and bear arms; the ban “does not deprive the people of reasonable means to defend themselves;” and “less restrictive approaches would not be adequate.”
> 
> 
> Fifteen pages later, Colbert I. King \[“[Outfoxed In the District](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010403250.html),” Jan. 5\] wrote of the “conditions that threaten the quality of life of all who live in this city: criminals roaming the streets in search of human prey; an apathetic and complacent government workforce; nonproducers ensconced in high places; and elected leaders who fall for snow jobs.”
> 
> 
> Draw your own conclusions.

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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