RADICAL RIGHT — FORMER GUN CONTROL ADVOCATE JOHN MCCAIN INTRODUCES BILL TO CURB D.C.’S GUN CONTROL LAWS: Facing a primary campaign challenge from ultra-conservative former congressman J.D. Hayworth, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been veering far to the right, even renouncing his carefully-honed “maverick” image. After reversing his positions on climate change and immigration in order to appease right-wing voters, he is now doing the same on gun control. On Tuesday, he and Sen. John Tester (D-MT) introduced legislation that would force the District of Columbia to weaken its gun laws. The “Second Amendment Enforcement Act” (SAEA) would repeal the city’s registration rules, allowing “D.C. residents to buy guns in Maryland and Virginia, while also allowing law-abiding Washingtonians to transport firearms in the District.” Additionally, it would “alter city laws that recommend guns be kept unloaded and either unassembled or locked in homes.”  Less than 10 years ago, however, McCain was actually pushing for stricter regulations. As a spokesperson for Americans for Gun Safety pointed out, McCain cut ads urging states to close the so-called gun show loophole, which allows people to purchase guns without a background check. In 2001, McCain “rattled the gun-rights lobby” when he sponsored national legislation to eliminate the loophole. Indeed, his moderate stance earned him praise from gun-control advocates and scorn from gun-rights organizations, with Gun Owners of America accusing McCain of “working with the enemy” and giving him an “F” rating for 2004 and 2006. McCain’s latest flip-flop has drawn criticism from Jonathan Cowan, president of the center-left think tank Third Way and former head of Americans for Gun Safety, who called McCain’s sponsorship of the SAEA “the most spectacular and blatant reversal in Senator McCain’s political career.”