Gail Collins has a good op-ed in today’s Times about concealed weapon legislation that had me immediately thinking of gay marriage. (No, it's not that: there's no such thing as a gay "shotgun wedding", thank God.)

Here's the skinny:  the House of Representatives yesterday breezily passed legislation designed to allow anyone with a concealed carry permit in one state to carry a concealed weapon in every other state that gives people the right to carry concealed weapons.  Meaning that states with stricter requirements for issuing permits (like Massachusetts, which also consistently comes last among the states — or damn close to it — in gun deaths) would be required to accept permits from states with much lower standards.

The legislation passed 272-154, with only seven Republicans voting against it, though it flies in the face of the GOP's open disdain for federal power (in fact, gun nuts in groups like the National Association for Gun Rights somehow see the legislation as a Trojan Horse for "even more federal gun control").

DOMA also clearly infringes on states' rights, explicitly forbidding the federal government from recognizing valid state same-sex marriages.  Last year 15 state governors (including our own Deval Patrick) petitioned Congress to repeal it, arguing that 

By denying federal recognition for some of our states’ lawful marriages, DOMA does not just deny married same-sex couples these and other critical rights and benefits. It disrespects our states’ decisions to treat all of our citizens equally, and even requires our states’ governments, when we jointly administer federal programs like Medicaid, to actively discriminate against our own lawfully-married citizens.

But, again, conservatives don't seem to mind.

And it gets curiouser. As pressure builds to repeal DOMA, or replace it with the Respect For Marriage Act, one of the chief objections from conservatives?  You got it: states' rights.

The right-wing National Report warns:

A new bill being debated in the Senate threatens states’ sovereignty and religious freedom. ... [T]he “Respect for Marriage Act” seeks to repeal the existing Defense of Marriage Act which defines marriage as between one man and one woman. It would also force states that have defined that issue for themselves to recognize gay marriages performed in other states.

This is from an article entitled, somewhat ironically, "Respect of Marriage Act Exposes Senators’ Hypocrisy".  Hypocrisy is arguing for keeping DOMA around on states' rights grounds, or against repealing it with legislation whose stated goal is to "ensure respect for State regulation of marriage."

In fact, the Respect For Marriage Act does not "force states that have defined that issue for themselves to recognize gay marriages performed in other states." 

While H.R.1116 expressly repeals Section 2 of DOMA —

No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship.