Presidential Politics Hits Virginia on February 12, 2008

Virginia will hold a presidential primary for both the Republican and Democratic parties on February 12. In a previous post I mentioned how the only pro-gun Democrat running for President is New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. If you are a Democrat and want a pro-gun candidate representing you in next year's election, he is your only choice.

On the Republican side, there are several pro-gun candidates, some of which are what are known as "second-tier" candidates (candidates in single digits in the polls) but of the front runners, only former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson is truly pro-gun based on his past record. If former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee pulls an upset and finishes in the top three in Iowa on January3rd, he would vault into the first tier and join Thompson as a truly pro-gun candidate. Of the others in the top tier, I don't think I need to remind you of Giuliani's past where he called the NRA extremists or former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's signing into law a so-called "assault-weapons" ban. Senator John McCain has generally been with us but even he has a couple bad votes - namely campaign finance reform that took away the NRA's ability to communicate with gun owners 60 days before a general election, and his vote to end gun shows as we know them.

Senator Thompson has not been shy about promoting his pro-gun record - visiting gun shows and gun shops while on the campaign trail. This Associated Press (AP) report talks about Thompson's discussion of the differences between him and his top tier rivals on the issue of the Second Amendment.