Will Gun Control Turn Tide for McAuliffe, Moran?

We will see tonight if the last minute attack on Deeds for his prior votes against gun control can win a nomination.

McAuliffe and Moran are attacking Deeds' opposition to most restrictions on gun ownership, including his vote more than a decade ago against a bill to limit gun purchases to one per month.

Anti-gun Anti-Deeds Ad

Found this on YouTube. There is no way to identify who put the ad together but it uses a mailer that was sent out against Deeds and the voice in the interview is Brian Moran. The mailer uses the typical anti- language of "guns in bars" to hit Deeds for his support of repealing the restaurant ban.



To be clear - VSSA has not endorsed in this race. I have provided information of value to gun owners who want to vote their rights today. Deeds is not perfect. He has been duped into attacking gun shows by those who use any tragedy to advance the cause of the anti-rights crowd. But we know that Moran is a politician that will say and do what he thinks will help him get elected.

When Moran thought it was just going to be Deeds and himself running for Governor, he changed his voting patterns on 2nd Amendment issues so he could appear to be like Mark Warner and appeal to areas outside of northern Virginia. When McAuliffe jumped in, Moran had to run to the left in hopes of holding his home area in the primary.

While I am unable to determine who sent the mailer about Deed's record on firearm issues that is used in the web ad, one of the issues the mailer hit Deeds on was his vote that prevented localities from regulating firearms by policy or ordinance (pre-emption bill HB 530 in 2004). Interesting enough, then Delegate Brian Moran voted for that bill too.

The ad also hits Deeds for voting against Doug Wilder's handgun rationing law (one gun-a-month) in 1993. Yet in 2004, Moran voted for the first partial roll back of the law - HB 404, sponsored by Delegate Bill Janis (a VSSA member). HB 404 exempts concealed handgun permit holders from Wilder's handgun rationing law.

So, it seems that Moran votes with gun owners when it may benefit him, but when he needs to appeal to the left in hopes of winning an election, he will throw our rights overboard.

Update: Omar Samaha and Colin Goddard representing the families of the Virginia Tech shooting victims are encouraging people to vote ABC (Anybody But Creigh) today.

Hat tip to NotLarrySabato.

Primary Day in Virginia

The polls opened at 6:00 AM this morning and will remain open until 7:00 PM. Turn out was going to be light anyway but the threat of rain may dampen turnout even more. This will be all about which candidate can turn out their supporters. Most of folks I follow who make such predictions believe Creigh Deeds' late surge gives him a leg up in the race to be the Democratic candidate for Governor. We will see.

There are a smattering of nominations for House seats too.

I you are planning to vote (you don't have to be a Democrat - Virginia is an open primary state), here is one more thing to consider when trying to decide which candidate supports your rights, courtesy of the New York Times.

“Unlike my friend Creigh, I support the Second Amendment, but I don’t dance whenever the N.R.A. tells me to,” said Mr. Moran, jabbing at Mr. Creeds, who won the endorsement of the National Rifle Association in his 2005 attorney general race.

For someone who claims to support the Second Amendment, Moran has been the most vocal in calling for more gun control during the race.