It’s not easy to get lawmakers to pay attention to issues other than energy and housing when gas is $4 per gallon and banks are announcing record losses due to failing mortgage investments.

Yet that’s exactly what the National Rifle Association is attempting to do by grading members on whether they sign a discharge petition to force a vote on an NRA-backed bill. Given the lobby’s clout, the chances are that many lawmakers will give it a serious look.

The NRA remains one of the nation’s most powerful lobbies, and it is wisely seeking to capitalize on its historic Second Amendment victory last month at the Supreme Court. The high court’s 5-4 decision that the District of Colombia’s handgun ban was unconstitutional gave a shot in the arm to the NRA and gun-rights supporters around the country.

Now the NRA is trying to ensure that its court win extends to the legislative branch by rallying for legislation sponsored by Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) that would eliminate gun registration and end criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm.

The bill also would undo the District’s new handgun law instituted in the wake of the Supreme Court decision. The new law still bans some semi-automatic handguns, which it treats as machine guns, and in the NRA’s view includes burdensome rules on storing guns. It also makes it far too difficult for gun owners to register their firearms, according to the NRA.

Getting 218 lawmakers to sign the petition would discharge Ross’s bill to the floor, forcing a vote. That would be quite a feat for a measure that has been stuck in committee for more than a year, despite 247 co-sponsors, including 56 Democrats.

The NRA move puts those 56 Democrats in an uncomfortable position. They can either challenge their leadership months before an election by supporting the discharge petition, or they can risk their ratings with a powerful lobby that has proved it can bring out voters, particularly in rural areas.

We make no judgment on the substance of the legislation, which touches not only on gun control but on the sensitive issue of home rule in the District.

Still, it is a savvy political move by a lobby group that could face a Congress and executive branch next year that look with less favor on its issue.

Even if the discharge petition fails or the Ross bill gets a vote but does not become law, the NRA will be forcing members of the majority party to declare their allegiances. Those who side with the NRA give the lobby group more clout in the next Congress.

Those who don’t become targets, and in the past, the NRA has shown it has some clout on the campaign trail.  By, for the first time in 20 years, grading whether lawmakers sign a discharge petition, the NRA is trying to make sure a big victory doesn’t slip into the sand.