Election Post Mortem - Predicted "Blue Wave" More of a Blue Ripple

Yesterday, the voters appear to have voted for more gridlock as they awarded continued majority control of the U.S. Senate to the GOP while the House of Representatives flipped to Democratic Control.  The latter was helped with the loss of three pro-rights representatives from Virginia - Scott Taylor in the 2nd, Dave Brat in the 7th, and Barbara Comstock in the 10th.  Both Brat and Taylor were defeated by newcomers to the electorial process while Comstock was defeated by Jennifer Wexton, an anti-rights member of the the Virginia General Assembly.

Since the beginning of this election cycle the mainstream media and the left have told us that there would be a "Blue Wave" that would give Democrats large majorities and the House of Representatives and would flip the Senate.  This was thought because the left seemed much more motivated to vote with Donald Trump in the White House.  Then, Chucky Schumer decided to destroy the reputation of a good man, Brett Kavanaugh.  Even before that occurred it has begun to look like taking control of the U.S. Senate was going to be a long shot but Schumer's strategy likely led to the defeats of Senator Joe Donnelly in Indiana, and Claire McCaskill in Missouri.

So what does all of this mean for our Second Amendment freedom in the coming two years?  Roll Call wrote this morning House Democrats plan to move forward with criminalizing private firearm sales.  Roll Call also notes that such an effort is likely to stall in the Senate as both the President and the Senate GOP have shown zero interest in any bill that could be construed as infringing upon Second Amendment rights.  All three of the Democrats that flipped seats in Virginia are on board with more restrictions on our rights, including so-called "universal" background checks, banning modern sporting rifles, and banning standard capacity magazines. While Bloomberg's fake news outlet, The Trace, tried to paint the best face on last night's returns by saying pushing gun control did not hurt them, the fact is, at least in the 7th District where I live, not one of Spanberger's television ads mentioned gun control.  In fact, almost all of them failed to even mention she was a Democrat.  I did not see any of the ads for Wexton (10th) and Luria (2nd) but Bloomberg and Gabby Giffords spent heavily in the 10th District.

What the election results do show us is we have a lot of work to do in the suburbs.  That is where House races were lost yesterday according to Roll Call and other news outlets.

In Virginia, we now turn our attention to the state legislative races that will be held in 2019 where the House of Delegates and the State Senate will all be up for re-election.  If we lose the pro-gun majorities in both houses, Virginia will look like New Jersey and California virtually overnight when it comes to gun laws.

Roll Call: Giffords PAC Airs New TV Ad Against Comstock in Virginia

Roll Call reports this morning that the anti-rights Political Action Committee (PAC) of former congresswoman Gabby Giffords is dropping a second TV ad against Virgnia's 10th District representative Barbara Comstock:

The spot, debuting Wednesday and obtained first by Roll Call, opens with footage of a parent playing with a small child.

“Congress should be doing everything it can to protect families from gun violence,” the narrator says. “But time and again, Congresswoman Barbara Comstock has sided with the NRA over us.”

The ad is part of Giffords PAC’s $1 million investment in the suburban D.C.-based 10th District, which is near the NRA’s national headquarters. It will air on cable across the district, with heavy play in Loudon and Fairfax counties.

The 10th District is thought to be the best "pick-up" opportunity for the Democrats as both Hillary Clinton and Governor Ralph Northam carried the district by double digits.  Every gun owner in the 10th District needs to contact the Comstock campaign and to see how you can help with less than 50 days until the election.

Vote Nick Freitas On June 12

Tomorrow is the June primary to determine nominees for the GOP U.S. Senate candidate and several congressional races.  VSSA urges all Virginia gun owners to vote for Delegate Nick Freitas for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination.  Delegate Freitas, is a former Green Beret and he currently serves in the Virginia House of  Delegates. You may recall that VSSA shared his impassioned floor speech defending 2nd Amendment Rights in our weekly eBullet member newsletter. In that speech, viewed almost 11 million times on his Facebook page, Freitas challenged common myths regarding crime involving firearms and gun control before questioning why gun rights advocates have been treated unfairly in their representation by the media and his peers.

Frietas is endorsed by the NRA-PVF and by VSSA.   Please make sure you go out and vote tomorrow, and vote for Nick Freitas.  For more on Delegate Freitas' campaign, take a look at his interview on a May edition of NRATV Cam and Company.

Vote Nick Freitas in the GOP Primary June 12th

Gun owners have an opportunity to nominate a true champion of the Second Amendment on June 12 to run against anti-gun U.S. Senator Tim Kaine in November.  While all three GOP candidates have responded to the NRA Questionnaire in strong support of our firearms freedom (based on their NRA-PVF ratings), one candidate stands head and shoulders above the rest, and that candidate is Delegate Nick Freitas.  Because of his strong record in the General Assembly, Delegate Freitas has earned the endorsement of the NRA Political Victory Fund and has earned the support of the Virginia Shooting Sports Association.  Readers of this blog may recall earlier this year, we shared a floor speech that Delegate Freitas made in support of our rights during the General Assembly session.  The video of the speech went viral and has had over 16 million views.

Delegate Freitas enlisted in the United States Army after High School. Following the tragic events of September 11th, 2001, Nick served two combat tours as a Green Beret in the Middle East. After Nick’s service as a Green Beret, he became Director of Operations for a service-disabled, veteran-owned defense contractor. Nick is currently serving his second term as a Virginia House of Delegates member, originally elected in 2015.   Nick and his wife, Tina, and their three children live in Culpeper, VA.

Gun owners need to do all they can do between now and June 12 to help Delegate Freitas win the primary.  You can find out how to contact the campaign by clicking here.

Yesterday, Delegate Freitas spoke with NRATV host Cam Edwards.  He spoke about the 2017 off-year elections where Virginia went from a two-thirds pro-gun rights majority to a one-vote majority in the House of Delegates. Freitas also said progressives don't want a few "common sense" limitations - they want to gut the Second Amendment. He said it's time to respect the constitutional rights of gun owners. They must stop trying to use the government to disarm us.  You can watch the entire interview below.

Will the Focus on Guns Hurt Democrats in Mid-terms

A poll released last week seems to indicate that the extreme focus on guns has hurt Democrats as they seek to take control of the House and Senate in November's mid-term election.  The Washington Post has the story:

The poll finds that the gap between support for Democratic vs. Republican House candidates has dropped by more than half since the beginning of the year. At the same time, there has been a slight increase in President Trump’s approval rating, although it remains low. Measures of partisan enthusiasm paint a more mixed picture of the electorate in comparison with signs of Democratic intensity displayed in many recent special elections.

One potentially new factor in the mix of midterm issues is gun policy, which has emerged as a major voter consideration two months after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. More than 4 in 10 registered voters say it is extremely important that ­candidates share their views on gun issues. Fewer voters say it is critical that candidates share their views on Trump or House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), leaders who are most likely to be targets in partisan messaging this fall.

According to the Post, white voters are responsible for closing the gap.

The survey shows the GOP making a more pronounced shift among white voters, who now prefer Republicans by a 14-point margin over Democrats, up from five points in January. Republicans lead by 60 percent to 31 percent among white voters without college degrees, slightly larger than an 18-point GOP advantage three months ago.

Sebastian at Shall Not Be Questioned posed the rhetorical question "what issue could that demographic possibly care about that could account for this?"

The Post noted that the renewed gun-control debate is a "wild card" in the midterm election. Several polls have shown increased support for restrictions aimed at curbing violence involving firearms following February’s Parkland school shooting.  But as is usually the case, support for gun control jumps after events like Parkland, then subside.  The same is true this time as a new Gallup Poll shows that those mentioning gun control as the most important issue facing the country has dropped by over half in April.  Gun control however still continues to be one of the highest-ranked issues named by Americans -- ranking fourth behind dissatisfaction with government, immigration and race relations.

Seven months is an eternity in politics.  Much can change between now and November.  The best way to make sure that the gun ban lobby does not win in November is to get active for pro-rights candidates in this year's campaign.