Both parties favor big government, but the 'pubbies want it to do one set of things while the Dems want it to do the opposite set. By alternating power and never repealing anything, the two parties combine to ensure that big government does everything.
Anything sponsored by Orrin Hatch is doomed, by the way.
Isn't the D.C. ordinance also being challenged in court? If the Second Amendment confers any personal right to bear arms at all, it's hard to see how a ban as sweeping as the D.C. one could be constitutional. D.C. is federal territory, after all, so the issue of whether the Second Amendment binds the states does not arise.