Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). (Photo by T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images)

Because he can, a Republican from Kentucky introduced an amendment to a House appropriations bill today that would stop D.C. from enforcing its local gun laws.

The amendment, which would stop D.C. from using local funds to enforce all gun laws on the books, was unsuccessfully introduced by Massie last night, but he succeeded this afternoon. It passed by a voice vote.

“Representative Massie was not deterred by his embarrassing failure last night,” D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said in a statement. “Representative Massie, who first entered Congress in 2012, is trying to appeal to the far right wing and to get a national profile at the expense of the public safety of my constituents. D.C. is a big city that shares the same violence issues as all other big cities, but it is also the nation’s capital, home to the president and countless federal and foreign officials who travel on our streets every day. Representative Massie, who claims at every turn to support local control of local affairs, is using the power of the federal government to overturn the laws of a local jurisdiction. Public safety is the most local of issues.”

Sed. Rand Paul, also from Kentucky, is attempting to accomplish similar goals with an amendment to a Senate bill. Massie is joined by Rep. Andy Harris, who introduced an amendment to the House spending bill that would block D.C. from implementing its marijuana decriminalization bill. The White House has threatened to veto the bill if that measure, among others, is not removed.