Gun Ban Lobby Looking Forward to Hillary Clinton

The Hill reports this morning that the though of Hillary Clinton's White House bid is energizing the gun ban lobby, believing she is the one who can finish the task that Barack Obama couldn't on criminalizing private transfers:

Gun control advocates have high hopes for Hillary Clinton’s presidential run, viewing her as an ally who can finish the push for tightened background checks that has stalled in President Obama’s second term.

Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, has been a staunch advocate of gun-control proposals such as expanding background checks and banning assault weapons. Last summer, she ripped groups that oppose those ideas as out of step with public opinion.

“We cannot let a minority of people, and that’s what it is, it is a minority of people, hold a view point that terrorizes the majority of people,” Clinton said during a CNN town hall event.

It's not really clear how she would be any more successful than Obama since even with the U.S. Senate in the hands of the Democrats and run by Obama's lackey, Harry Reid, they fell well short of the votes needed to take away our rights.  It is also likely that even though Republicans will have a tough battle to hold their Senate majority in 2016 since they have to defend far more seats than Democrats, that there will be enough pro-rights votes in the Senate and definitely in the House to keep her from successfully pushing further restrictions.

Dan Gross of the Brady Campaign believes Clinton can make the sales pitch on so-called "expanded background checks" during the campaign but the Hill pointed out that pushing gun control may pay dividends with the left but could also prove a liability in several battleground states.

For the first time in decades, a majority of Americans say it is more important to protect gun rights than it is to limit gun ownership, according to a December poll from the Pew Research Center.

The same Pew poll found that a slight majority of women now believe owning a handgun can protect them from becoming victims of crime.

This rising popularity of guns among women could help Republicans in swing states like Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Virginia, North Carolina, and New Hampshire, according to GOP strategist Ford O’Connell.

Gun control advocates fire back that a 2013 poll showed 90% of the public supports "expanded background checks." But is that really the case?  It depends on how the question is asked.

I'm still not ready to bet the farm that Clinton will be the Democratic nominee, but I would be willing to bet whoever the nominee is, it won't be a friend of gun owners.

Marco Rubio: We are at a Turning Point with the Second Amendment and National Security

I've attended, or at least watched via the video feed in the convention center, or after I returned home, a number of NRA Annual Meeting Leadership Forum speeches since they began in 2008.  More times than not, speakers touch on the Second Amendment then go on to a laundry list of other issues that would fit more with a GOP Convention than a non-partisan organization.  While it may be safe to say a lot of gun owners fall on the conservative side of the aisle, what about those gun owners who aren't?  Are we discouraging those folks from being NRA members? 

Despite the fact there are very few national Democrats who vote the right way on the Second Amendment issue, resulting in most of the organization's national support going to Republicans, there are still states around the country that have Democrats who support the Second Amendment.  They receive support from the NRA when they are on the right side of the issue.  The NRA is a non-partisan single issue organization.  Support that issue and the NRA will support your re-election.

So, it was refreshing to hear Florida Senator Marco Rubio use his time Friday to speak almost entirely on the Second Amendment and how it relates to national security. The phrase "The Second Amendment is the Original Home Land Security" isn't just a slogan, and Rubio made the case on how the right to keep and bear arms and how it intersects with national security. 

Jim Shepherd: Hillary Gives NRA Last Word

The Shooting Wire's Jim Shepherd ended today's edition with a wrap-up of the NRA Annual Meeting and started with a pronouncement that something that happened hundreds of miles away from Nashville may do more to unite the NRA's membership than the upbeat positive event that just ended:

As the one hundred and forty-fourth annual meeting of the National Rifle Association wrapped up in Nashville, Tennessee's Music City Center yesterday, one of the most galvanizing actions for the NRA's membership took place hundreds of miles away.

With Hillary Clinton's virtual announcement of her formal candidacy for president, the NRA and the many Second Amendment groups in attendance finally have the face of the anti-gun movement firmly fixed in their political sights. As the parade of potential Republican presidential candidates rolled (slowly) across the stage on Friday, many of them took pointed shots at President Obama's record, but others took advantage of the opportunity to let the NRA faithful in attendance know they were ready for "Madame Clinton" when her apparently inevitable other shoe was once again digitally tossed into the ring with considerably less invective than a rumored ashtray was passed to her husband in the White House.

We've been down this road before where we focus on defeating Hillary Clinton and ended up with someone as bad if not worse.  In 2008 most anyone would have said that Clinton was going to be the Democrat nominee. She had the early start, the popular (among Democrats at least) former president husband, and it looked like she could not be beat.  Sound familiar?  So you can excuse me when I heard a focus on Hillary at Friday's NRA-ILA Leadership Conference as maybe just a little bit of déjà vu.


With no other announced candidate on the Democratic side of the race, it makes sense to focus on the known.  There is talk however that former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley may jump in an that he would possibly run to Hillary's left (as if that is possible).  His record on Second Amendment issues are just as bad.  Let's hope this year, if there ends up being a competitive Democratic primary race, we will get the word out on how each of the candidates stand on our issue.  Because, as more than one person has noted, the more people who see Hillary, the less they like her.

Obama and Guns

In this morning's Washington Times, NRA-ILA Executive Director had this to say about Obama's claims about supporting the Second Amendment.

In speech after speech, Barack Obama has claimed he would "uphold the Second Amendment." Mr. Obama, of course, is a polished speaker who says "words matter." But records matter more. And while Mr. Obama is short on experience on most issues, he's long on anti-gun votes and even longer on rhetoric. Now's a good time to review both. One of Mr. Obama's first statements on the issue really said it all. During his first run for the Illinois Senate in 1996, Mr. Obama said on a candidate questionnaire that he supported legislation to "ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns." When challenged about the questionnaire earlier this year, Mr. Obama blamed others, saying his campaign staff had filled out the questionnaire incorrectly.

In a 2003 case, a resident of Wilmette, Ill., used a handgun to defend himself from a burglar with a drug habit and a long criminal record, breaking into his home for the second day in a row. Though authorities found the shooting justified, the armed citizen was charged with possessing a handgun in violation of Wilmette's handgun ban.

Illinois lawmakers proposed legislation that would make self-defense an "affirmative defense" against prosecution for handgun possession in towns like Wilmette. Mr. Obama voted four times against the measure, which passed over his opposition, and over a veto by Illinois' anti-gun governor, Rod Blagojevich, a long-time Obama ally.

Self-defense at home or outside the home - it's all just as bad to Mr. Obama.

In 2004, he said he was "consistently on record and will continue to be on record as opposing concealed carry," and that he'd back "federal legislation that would ban citizens from carrying weapons, except for law enforcement." Mr. Obama had already put that anti-self-defense belief into action in 2001, voting against a state Senate bill that would have allowed people who receive protective orders - such as domestic violence victims - to carry firearms. Why? Because, in Mr. Obama's world, "authorizing potential victims to carry firearms would potentially lead to a more dangerous rather than less dangerous situation . It was a bad idea and I'm glad it failed," he said.

Mr. Obama also claims he's no threat to hunters.

But in 2005, he voted for a ban on all but the smallest rifle ammunition used for hunting (or for anything else). If the measure had passed, it would have classified most rifle ammunition beyond the low-powered .22 caliber as "armor piercing ammunition," prohibited for civilian manufacture by federal law. The ammunition ban was hardly Mr. Obama's first act against hunters, either. In 1999, Mr. Obama proposed increasing firearm and ammunition excise taxes by 500 percent. Right now, a rifle that a manufacturer sells for $500 carries an excise tax of $55. Under Mr. Obama's proposal, that amount would rocket to $330. This would turn a tax willingly paid by sportsmen, which funds many of our wildlife conservation programs, into a tool to punish gun buyers.

Also, while Mr. Obama promises hunters, "I will not take your shotgun away," his votes tell a different story.

In 2003, while serving on the Illinois state Senate's Judiciary Committee, Mr. Obama voted for a bill that would have banned (as so-called "semi-automatic assault weapons") most single-shot and double-barreled shotguns, along with hundreds of models of rifles and handguns. If the bill had passed, any Illinois resident who possessed one of these guns 90 days after legislation went into effect, would have faced felony charges. What was that about not taking shotguns away?

As if voting for anti-gun plans wasn't bad enough, Mr. Obama also helped pay for them. He was a board member from 1994 to 2001 of the anti-gun Joyce Foundation, which is the largest source of funding for radical anti-gun groups in the country. On Mr. Obama's watch, Joyce donated $18.6 million to approximately 80 anti-gun efforts, including $1.5 million to the Violence Policy Center, the nation's most aggressive gun-prohibitionist group. Many of the Joyce Foundation's projects were aimed at editing the Second Amendment out of the Constitution.

But an Obama Supreme Court could do that more directly. Mr. Obama has said he would not have nominated Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. It was Justice Scalia who wrote the majority opinion in D.C. v. Heller, which declared that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms, and that D.C.'s handgun ban is unconstitutional. Justice Thomas joined in that opinion. As a member of the U.S. Senate, Mr. Obama also voted against confirming Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both of whom joined Justice Scalia's majority opinion in Heller. That means four of the five pro-freedom votes on the Supreme Court would not have been there under an Obama presidency.

This is the real Barack Obama. This record matches the attitude Mr. Obama revealed when he said rural Pennsylvanians are "bitter" and "cling to guns." This record matches what you would expect to emerge from a Chicago political machine where an unrepentant terrorist is "respectable" and "mainstream."

Finally, with no way to run from his record, Mr. Obama resorts to the ultimate political dodge. Does he support gun registration? "I don't think that we can get that done." Banning guns? "I couldn't get it done. I don't have the votes in Congress."

These efforts to ease gun owners' fears should make any gun owner ask, "Wait, why is he counting all these votes already?" Instead of this not-so-reassuring rhetoric, gun owners deserve the truth. And the truth is clear: Barack Obama would be the most anti-gun president in history - bar none.

TSRA Second Amendment Radio Spot

The Texas State Rifle Association is running an ad on radio throughout Texas that encourages gun owners to consider what is at stake in this election. The ad details that even though the Heller decision has affirmed an individual right to keep and bear arms, the changes that could occur in the Federal judiciary in the term of the next president may have a dramatic effect on what the Second Amendment means. All the "reasonable regulations" left undefined in the Heller case this summer will be decided since litigation filed in the wake of Heller is set to determine many of those key issues, including whether or not incorporation of this basic right goes down to state and local government. If that fight is lost, the Second Amendment will then only apply to the Federal government, leaving states and municipal governments a free rein to take away most, if not all of our gun rights. Gun owners should consider this when voting in this year's election.

TSRA forwarded the audio to me and other gun rights activists and asked that we assist in distributing the ad to like-minded individuals interested in defending the Second Amendment. They don't have to be Texas residents, in fact it would help a great deal to get this out of state. As a non-battleground state where McCain is expected to win by over 17 points, both campaigns have largely ignored Texas.

I have uploaded the audio to You Tube to make distribution easier. Please listen to the ad below and then pass it along to others so we can get to word to all gun owners.

Before You Hunt - Vote

To help encourage hunters and shooters to vote absentee if they will be traveling on business or in the field on Election Day, NSSF has developed a poster for shooting ranges and retailers that encourages absentee voting. With a simple headline, "Before you hunt -- Vote," the poster is a great reminder that directs the audience to www.nssf.org/VoterEd for access to information about absentee voting in every state. You can help: Download, print and hang the poster prominently at your business to remind your staff and customers.

McCain-Palin Pull Large Crowd in Northern Virginia

NRO's Jim Geraghty has a quick post about the event here. Reports put the crowd at 10,000 - 20,000. This may be based on tickets given away to the event but it continues a trend began on August 29th when McCain announced the choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Rally with Pro-Gun Sarah Palin Moved

You have probably heard that pro-gun Alaska Governor and Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin and Presidential Candidate John McCain are coming to Virginia tomorrow for a campaign rally. While McCain is not perfect on our issue, he is head and shoulders above Senator Barrack Obama and the fact that he chose such a pro-gun running mate makes him stronger.

Due to an overwhelming response from Virginia voters, the rally has been moved outdoors to Van Dyke Park, next to Fairfax High School in Fairfax City, Virginia. If you are interested in tickets to this event to have a chance to see this dynamic candidate, you can still obtain tickets online or by visiting one of the Virginia Victory offices today until 9:00 p.m. EDT. Tickets will also be available at Van Dyke Park starting at 7:00am EDT Wednesday morning.

Van Dyke Park is located at: 3730 Old Lee Highway Fairfax, Virginia. Parking is available at Fair City Mall/Turnpike Shopping Center - Intersection of Main Street and Pickett.Shuttles will begin running at 7:45 AM to event site.Doors will open at 8:00 am.

Please see below for ticket locations. Tickets are still available. If you have any questions please email virginia@johnmccain.com or call (703) 297-8900. Tickets can be reserved and printed online.

Click here to RSVP and print your ticket online. If you have a VSSA hat or NRA item, be sure to wear it to show gun owners support for Governor Palin's addition to the McCain ticket.

Rally Ticket Distribution Sites:
Richmond Regional Victory Headquarters2819 N. Parham Road, Suite 210Richmond, VA 23294(804) 248-6981

Virginia Victory 2008 State Headquarters1235 S. Clark Street, First FloorArlington, VA 22202(703) 955-4255

Chesapeake Regional Victory Headquarters124 Battlefield Blvd, SouthChesapeake, VA 23322(757) 482-1111

Fairfax Regional Victory Headquarters4246 Chain Bridge RoadFairfax, VA 22030(703) 766-4467

Fredericksburg Regional Victory Headquarters150 Riverside Parkway, Suite 213Fredericksburg, VA 22406(540) 479-1888

Harrisonburg Regional Victory Headquarters182 Neff Avenue, Suites 13 and 14Harrisonburg, VA 22801(540) 910-2681

Loudoun Regional Victory Headquarters46950 Community Plaza Unit #201ASterling, VA 20164(703) 340-0702

Prince William GOP Headquarters4431 Prince William ParkwayWoodbridge, VA 22192(703) 680-7388

Roanoke Regional Victory Headquarters3904 Franklin Road SW, Suite ERoanoke, VA 24104(540) 725-7445

Virginia Beach Regional Victory Headquarters512 S. Independence Blvd. Suite 200Virginia Beach, VA 23452(757) 305-9174

Yorktown Wittman for Congress Headquarters632 Hampton Hwy.Yorktown, VA 23693(703) 220-4074

Obama to Hold Townhall in Northern Virginia

Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama will hold a town hall meeting tomorrow (Thursday) at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax County. Obama is expected to talk about improving economic opportunities for women and helping parents balance the demands of work and family but attendees will also be able to ask Obama questions. This would be a good opportunity for gun owners to get Obama on the record regarding what restrictions to our rights he favors and which ones (if any) he opposes. You can get background for what Obama has supported in the past here. The information will be helpful in crafting your questions. You can bet the press will report any gun related question.

The townhall at 1:15 p.m. at the school located at 5035 Sideburn Rd. in Fairfax. The event is free but tickets are required. Tickets are available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 11184 Lee Highway in Fairfax and 4308 Ridgewood Center Drive in Woodbridge.

Does Heller Decision Take Guns Off Election Radar

A great post over at National Review's Campaign Spot responds to a thesis put forward by The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan - that the Heller decision killed the presidential hopes of John McCain. Sulivan's theory goes like this - the "RKBA" crowd will not be able to be ginned up because no matter how anti-gun Obama is, the Supreme Court ruling that there is an individual right to keep and bear arms will squash any attempt by Obama and what most predict will be a fortified Democratic majority in Congress to further restrict those rights. Campaign Spot's Jim Geraghty, by way of a Robert Levy quote, accurately points out that Heller was simply the first in what will be a series of cases to win back rights that have been taken by an over arching government.

Hopefully, gun owners will be motivated and impassioned because four Supreme Court justices ruled that a complete ban on gun ownership is constitutional, and Obama's favorites are three of them. If we don't want to lose next year what we gained last month, gun owners need to get energized to defeat Barack Obama.

Hat Tip to Jim Geraghty.

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

Hillary Clinton has unleashed another series of attack mailers on Barrack Obama. One deals with Obama's record on gun rights. That's the ultimate example of the pot calling the kettle black. As the NRA's America's First Freedom magazine pointed out in February, Mrs. Clinton has spent most of her career as a proponent of stricter gun control. The Politico's Ben Smith reinforced that point this weekend. Smith also noted how the firearm on the mailer doesn't exist. In a gaffe typical of someone (or in the case of the campaign staff - people) with no clue about firearms or gun rights, they used a photo of a European made high dollar rifle, but then flipped the picture or used a mirror image of the firearm which made it appear to be a left handed model. The rifle pictured even has a double-set trigger, something popular in Europe but almost unheard of in the United States according to Val Forgett III, president of Navy Arms in Martinsburg, W.Va.


Problem is, with this particular model, The Mauser 66, it was never manufactured as a left hand model. Talk about elitist - Obama may think gun owners cling to guns because they are bitter but Clinton uses a photo of a $2000 European rifle, then uses a reverse view of the photo in the mailer and has no clue a mistake has been made.

Hat tip to the Politico.

Obama and Clinton talk about Gun Control

Both Senators Clinton and Obama tried to portray themselves as friends of gun owners while campaigning in Pennsylvania. Thanks to our friends over at ABC, they were drawn out on the issue and you can hear their double talk for yourself. If you missed the debate a couple weeks ago, click the clip below.

More Virginians Getting Concealed Handgun Permits

The Virginian Pilot reported this morning that more people in Virginia are seeking concealed handgun permits (CHP). According to the Pilot, the number of applications is "soaring." As you know, you don't have to state a reason for wanting a permit when you complete your application. Some offer that with the uncertainty of the upcoming election, and the fact that pundits are predicting Democrats will increase their margins in both houses of congress, including a veto proof majority of 60 Senators in the U.S. Senate and the likely hood that the gun control crowd could see a friendlier terrain for their pet projects.

Could it also be that people are realizing that as crime increases in some areas that it is their responsibility to protect themselves and their families?

Bob Marcus, head of the Virginia Firearms Dealer's Association was quoted in the article saying his concealed handgun classes are packed and his online course that he now offers already has 100 people that have signed up.

Last year, there were approximately 135,000 permit holders in Virginia. An increase can only be good for the cause of gun rights because those new permit holders will now have a stake in the legislation like repeal of the restaurant ban. The next step is to get them to join VSSA.

Obama Against Concealed Carry

So, while Obama is reaching out to gun owners in PA and using NRA "A" rated Democratic elected officials in the state to do so, he tells the Pittsburgh Tribune that he is "not in favor of concealed weapons. I think that creates a potential atmosphere where more innocent people could (get shot during) altercations."

Townhall.com's Amanda Carpenter writes that this new emphasis on gun control may be prompted by Philadelphia-based Democratic leaders who are pressuring Clinton and Obama to adopt harder stances on gun control. This issue is expected to come up in ABC News’ Democratic debate on April 16 in Philadelphia, which happens to be the one year anniversary of the shooting of 32 students at Virginia Tech.

A close look at Obama's Illinois legislative voting record shows that he has long backed gun-control measures, including a ban on semiautomatic weapons and concealed weapons, and a limit on handgun purchases to one a month. He has declined to take a stance on the legality of the handgun prohibition in Washington, D.C., which the U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing, although Obama has voiced support for the right of state and local governments to regulate guns. Obama also failed to sign on to the Congressional amicus brief supporting Richard Heller which 55 of his senate colleagues and 250 congressmen signed.

The only pro-gun vote he has cast in the Senate was for the Vitter Amendment in July 2006 which prohibits the confiscation of firearms during an emergency or natural disaster. Clinton was one of 16 senators to oppose the amendment.

A two-page white paper on Obama’s website doesn’t mention his voting record. Instead, he introduces himself as a former constitutional law professor who “believes the Second Amendment creates an individual right, and he greatly respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms.”

“He will protect the rights of hunters and other law-abiding Americans to purchase, own, transport, and use guns for the purposes of hunting and target shooting,” the paper states.

It also states “He also believes that the right is subject to reasonable and common sense regulation.”

Melody Zullinger, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's
Clubs who received the Obama campaign e-mail on his gun record, said Obama sounds
Obama aims for pro-gun vote - like he is “speaking out of both sides of his mouth.”

I agree.

Get more on Obama's record here.

Hat tip to Cam Edwards for the Obama/concealed carry news.

More on Presidential Candidates and Guns

Reuters news service printed the following information on Tuesday:

Following are the positions of the leading U.S. presidential candidates on gun control.

DEMOCRATS
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON
She has said law-abiding citizens should be able to own guns but laws are needed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. She co-sponsored legislation to reinstate for 10 years a ban on assault weapons.

The National Rifle Association gives her a failing grade of "F" for her position on guns.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA
Wants tighter background checks on gun buyers, making gun locks mandatory and holding parents criminally responsible for children who injure someone with a gun found at home. Supports reinstating assault-weapons ban.

The National Rifle Association gives him a failing grade of "F" for his position on guns.



REPUBLICAN
SEN. JOHN McCAIN
Opposes gun control, calling it "a proven failure in fighting crime." Opposes waiting periods to buy firearms. Has supported legislation requiring gun makers to include trigger locks with their products. Opposes reinstating assault-weapons ban. Has supported mandating background checks on gun buyers at gun shows.

The National Rifle Association gives him an average grade of "C" for his position on guns but says he has a perfect voting record since 2007 and his grade may be revised.

Sources: Reuters, campaign Web sites, Detroit Free Press, the National Rifle Association

Presidential Politics

Virginia has a primary this coming Tuesday. The GOP just lost one of its candidates. Speaking at the annual CPAC Conference, former Govenror Mitt Romney said this:

"I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating Al Qaeda and terror. If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.

"This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters... many of you right here in this room... have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country."

It was all but certain after "Super Duper Tuesday" but Romney's announcement makes it clear that McCain will be the standard bearer for the GOP this November.

Virginia Presidential Primary Thoughts

Note: This is not an endorsement for any particular candidate but information for voters to use in deciding for whom to vote on February 12th.The presidential race will come to Virginia one week after "Super Duper Tuesday" and just like in 2000, Virginia could play a significant role.

If Senator John McCain, who after winning in Florida, continues to role through the 21 states voting tomorrow, then next week may be all but academic. But, if Mitt Romney, who is running a close second in many of the states can keep McCain from picking up a majority of the delegates up for grabs, Virginia may have a say in the outcome.

Gun owners know that McCain has been a fair weather friend. While he has opposed the Clinton Gun Ban both times he had an opportunity to vote on it, in 2000 he supported ending gun shows as we know them by pushing for background checks on private sales at gun shows. The bills he supported did not just impose background checks but went as far as creating a gun owner registration list, registration of gun shows, and turn casual conversation at gun shows into gun sales. McCain's disdain for the First Amendment is even more egregious. The McCain/Feingold bill made it harder for groups like NRA to communicate with gun owners prior to an election. Clearly, if McCain was a conservative early in his political life, he strayed from that path in the last decade. When he spoke to the NRA's "Celebration of American Values" he highlighted those times that he has been with gun owners.

Former Governor Mitt Romney also has a spotted past when it comes to gun rights. Running for the U.S. Senate against Teddy Kennedy in 1994, Romney said he doesn’t line up with the NRA and favored waiting periods on gun sales. He also supported the Clinton Gun Ban in both 1994 and when he ran for Governor of Massachusetts in 2002. As a candidate for Governor, he said "We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts; I support them. I won’t chip away at them; I believe they protect us and provide for our safety." Now that he is running for President he has joined the NRA and has had a well covered faux pas regarding his history as a "lifelong hunter." He told attendees at the NRA's "Celebration of American Values" meeting in September that he supports the federal appeals court decision in the D.C. gun ban case. He discussed the issue on Meet the Press as well. Is he a pandering politician or has he really had a change of heart?

Then there is Mike Huckabee. As Governor of Arkansas, he had an "A" rating from the NRA. But, is he really a viable candidate or is he just splitting the conservative votes with Romney allowing McCain to win. Huckabee pulled an upset in Iowa on January 3rd but has not won since. He is basically out of money and is hoping to win in southern states with a high number of evangelical Christian voters to keep his hopes alive. At this point he appears to be running for the number 2 spot on the ticket and may be helping to catapult McCain to the nomination.

For Virginia gun owners who are Democrats, you don't have a pro-gun choice. I can't decide who is worse - Obama or Clinton. Both guarantee that if the Democrats win the White House, gun owners could be in for at least four tough years.

So, what should gun owners do on February 12th? Think long a hard about your decision. The winner of the election will likely have at least one Supreme Court nomination and possibly two. Focusing on the two candidates considered to have the best shot at getting the nomination, McCain claims he would appoint judges like Roberts or Alito yet it has been reported in National Review that McCain might not be so warm to justices like Alito after all. Romney has pledged to appoint justices like Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito. On the Democratic side, we can guarantee that both Obama and Clinton would appoint the likes of Stevens and Ginsberg.

Gun owners are urged to vote on February 12th and to "Vote Freedom First."

UPDATE: According to Instapundit Romney said today that he would "veto any gun control bills that cross his desk as President, including a renewal of the 'assault weapon' ban." This is different than what he said in December on Meet the Press. He also repeated the already disproven claim that the NRA endorsed him in 2002. Instapundit also includes this link on Romney's current position on 2nd Amendment issues.

And this from Jake Tapper on an ABC News blog post: Obama told a crowd in Idaho that he has "no intention of taking away folks' guns." However, it is widely reported that Obama does support gun control and has a record of voting for it in the Illinois Senate. He supported handgun rationing (limiting handgun purchases to one a month) and the Clinton campaign of all people has pointed out when Obama was running for the state legislature, he responded on a questionnaire that he "supported banning the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns.''

Tapper also mentions the recent mistep of both Romney on the gun issue.

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.

Governor Bill Richardson at the NRA's Celebration of American Values

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was not able to attend the event but provided a video presenation. He is the lone Democrat running for President that is pro-gun.

If the anti-gunners win...

Dave Kopel last week reviewed "Brady II" over at the Volokh Conspiracy. For those who don't remember, Brady II was introduced in Congress during 1994 but the Clinton Administration was focused on the Crime Bill with it's so-called assault weapons ban so Brady II never came up for a vote. When the Republicans won a majority in Congress (partly as a result of the NRA's all out push to defeat those members who voted for the assault weapons ban) Brady II did not resurface.

With a presidential campaign looming, and the two front-runners (Clinton and Guiliani) have less than stellar records on the issue of guns, Kopel apparently thought it would be good to give gun owners a look of what we might face if an anti-gun president and anti-gun leadership in Congress (at least in the House with Harry Reid in the Senate being pro-gun).

Brady II included:

Arsenal licensing - Any person who owns 20 or more firearms or more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition or primers (e.g. two "bricks" of rimfire ammo) would be required to get an "arsenal" license.

Licensing - Every handgun buyer would be required to obtain a state handgun license. The license would be good for no more than two years. No-one could obtain a license without passing a state-controlled "safety" course.

Taxes - Brady II would increase the taxes to 30% on handguns, and 50% on ammunition. So a $500 pistol would cost $650, and a $20 box of ammunition would cost $30.

There are other provision. You can read them all here. Hat tip to NRANews' Cam & Company for bringing this to my attention.