Washington Post: 10th District Candidate Comstock Under Fire from Both Sides on Gun Rights

The Washington Post has a piece on the 10th Congressional District Republican nomination race to replace retiring Representative Frank Wolf.  The Post reports that Delegate Barbara Comstock is under fire from both the gun ban lobby and from another candidate on the right for her position on firearm freedom.

Last week, Del. Barbara J. Comstock voted for a bill that would make it easier for teachers to bring guns onto school grounds. Democrats pounced, accusing the Fairfax County Republican of being “reckless” and out of step with Northern Virginia. The next day, Del. Robert G. Marshall (Prince William) joined the race for the Republican nomination to succeed retiring Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R) in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, and he immediately accused Comstock of doing “nothing” to lead on gun rights and other issues important to conservatives.

The attacks from the gun ban lobby are to be expected, but exactly what is Delegate Marshall talking about? Complicating matters is the fact, according to the Washington Post, people in the district that are associated with the Tea Party have pegged her as being the "Establishment" candidate.  So, let's look at Comstock's record on Second Amendment issues.

Delegate Comstock was elected in the tidal wave of 2009 that swept Bob McDonnell into the Governor's Office.  Since that time, she has had the opportunity to vote on some important pieces of legislation affecting Virginia's gun owners. A quick search of the Legislative Information System shows since 2010, Delegate Comstock has been on the right side of important votes including repeal of the ban on carrying concealed in family restaurants like Applebee's and Olive Garden that serve alcohol as well as food, repeal of handgun rationing, bills that allow the transporting of firearms in vehicles for those who chose not to get a concealed handgun permit, and a host of other pro-rights bills, and a host of others.  During last year's election, the gun ban lobby targeted Comstock late hoping to pull off an upset.

It could be that Delegate Marshall is measuring her commitment based on the number of pro-rights bills she has introduced.  A better measure on where she stands on our firearm freedom is whether we can count on her when the going gets tough, as it did during last year's campaign.  By that measure, she passed because she did not back down on her previous votes protecting the rights of Virginia's gun owners.

VSSA can't speak to other issues on which Delegate Comstock has voted since 2010, but on the issue that is the mission of this association, Delegate Comstock is counted among our true friends, and attacks on her record on Second Amendment issues are baseless.