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Archive for the ‘gun rights’ Category

Concealed Handgun Permit Applications Continue to Rise

Posted in gun rights, Politics, tagged , , , on August 25, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Virginia residents continue to file into circuit courts throughout the state at a record pace this year, according to statistics from more than 50 jurisdictions analyzed by the Daily News-Record.  According to the News-Record, in 2007, the number of concealed-weapon permits issued jumped roughly 60 percent from the previous year in Virginia.  Numbers for the first six months of 2008, show that most jurisdictions are on pace to surpass those numbers.

My home county of Chesterfield, as well as Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties are all on pace to break records, according to local statistics. In Fairfax County, a locality that has some very anti-gun elected officials (Ken Cuccinelli being the exception), 1,501 have been issued in the first six months of 2008; last year, 2,201 were issued; and, in 2006, 1,449.

Texas and other states have seen similar increases.  While no one can say with certainly what is driving the increase, it is very possible that people have finally figured out that the job of the police is not to protect individuals, that the job of self defense is the responsibility of the individual.  High profile mass killings probably have also played a role in the increase.  Finally, politics may also be playing a role in the uptick in applications.  Vigilant gun owners know that the Supreme Court decision in D.C. vs Heller was razor thin.  The next president may appoint as many as three new justices so it is critical that a pro-rights candidate win this year.  That’s why gun owners must do all they can to insure that Barrack Obama does not march into the White House on January 20, 2009.

The Obama campaign spokesman in Virginia is disputing that politics has anything to do with the increase in permit applications.  Kevin Griffis, the Virginia communications director for the Obama campaign, told the News Record that there is no correlation between the increase in concealed-weapons permits and the presidential election, saying it’s “a Republican talking point.”

Griffs continued by calling the claim that Obama is anti-gun a “systematic smear effort by the NRA.”   He went on to call the NRA “an arm of the Republican Party.” Citing the fact that 2007 was not a presidential election year, he said the NRA saying that Obama is anti-gun is “just as absurd as the e-mails going around suggesting Barack is not Christian” and called the NRA claims in the advertisement false.

You can hear me discuss the increase in permit applications on NRANews’ Daily News with Ginny Simone at 5:00PM today.  The interview will likely replay on Cam and Company tonight around 9:40PM.

 

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Joe Biden’s Anti-Gun Record

Posted in gun rights, Politics, tagged on August 25, 2008| Leave a Comment »

This year’s Democratic ticket is likely the most anti-gun pair that has ever run- besting even Clinton/Gore and Kerry/Edwards.  Obama’s record is well documented at www.nraila.org/obama – including his votes to ban most all rifle ammunition commonly used by hunters and sportsmen and supporting a proposal that would close almost all gun shops in the country.  Biden is just as bad.

Senator Biden has a long anti-gun record. Beginning in the late 1980s, he voted against the NRA position on most issues. He received an “F” rating from the NRA in 2002.

Sen. Biden was the lead sponsor of the Senate crime bill in the 103rd Congress (S. 1607), to which the Clinton Gun Ban amendment was attached. (The crime bill that eventually passed was the House version, but it still included the gun ban.)

Biden voted for the ban on a stand-alone vote in 1993 ( Feinstein amendment, vote no. 375, 11/17/93) and voted to extend the ban in 2004 as an amendment to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (vote no. 24, 3/2/2004), and included a renewal of the ban in his crime bill last year along with gun show restrictions (S. 2237, title VI).

In the 101st Congress, 1990, Biden introduced two crime bills, S. 1970 and S. 1972. S. 1970 proposed banning the AR-15 and similar semi-automatic firearms, and provided that the Treasury Secretary and Attorney General could recommend to Congress any other firearms (regardless of type) to be designated as “additional assault weapons.”S. 1972 proposed banning the purchase of the same guns unless the seller and buyer fill out and maintain copies of a 4473 or equivalent document, essentially just requiring private sellers to maintain records.

Biden reiterated his support for the ban (in fact, took credit for authoring it) in response to a question at the the CNN/YouTube debate this year (referenced in Saturday’s post). He also campaigned on the issue, and used the other side’s usual talking points in his campaign ads and letters to constituents in the ’90s. Even before the Feinstein amendment, Biden introduced crime bills that contained semi-auto bans (see bottom).

Hat tip to my friends over at the Yahoo Gun Issues group.

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Vacation’s Over – Back to Work Defeating Obama

Posted in gun rights, Politics, tagged , on August 23, 2008| Leave a Comment »

After a great vacation with the family it’s back to blogging and getting the word out about Obama and helping elect Jim Gilmore to the U.S. Senate.  With that in mind, if you are planning to be in Salem, Virginia for the Virginia Outdoor Sportsmen’s Classic, stop buy on Sunday at 1:30 and say hello to Jim Gilmore.  Former Governor Gilmore is a current member of the NRA Board of Directors. He opposes background checks on private sales at gun shows and will support Supreme Court nominees like Chief Justice Roberts and Alito who sided with the majority in the Heller case striking down the D.C. Gun Ban.

For more on the show, check out below.

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Obama’s America

Posted in gun rights, Politics, tagged , , on August 14, 2008| 1 Comment »

My friend Cam Edwards (host of Cam and Company on NRANews.com) sits in for talk show host Mike Church on Sirius Satellite Patriot 144 from time to time.  The last time Cam sat in on Church’s show, he followed Church’s tradition of doing a “Parody Song.”  After playing on his NRANews.com program, one of the listeners decided to make a video out of it.  I embed the video below for your entertainment.

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McCain Holds Lead Among Sportsmen

Posted in gun rights, hunting, Politics, tagged , on August 13, 2008| Leave a Comment »

The Politico reported yesterday that Barrack Obama is trailing John McCain among sportsmen but a surprising number say they’ll vote for him – far more than backed Al Gore or goose hunting John Kerry. According to a Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) poll to be released today, McCain leads Obama by a 45 to 31 percent.   That’s only about half the 27-point edge respondents say they gave George W. Bush over Kerry four years ago and far short of the 65-to-15 percent margin gun owners gave to Bush over Gore in 2000.  CSF polled 1,009 hunters and fishermen, between July 10 and July 24.  The results could be a reflection of McCain’s up-and-down relationship with gun advocates and also suggests the he has not yet persuaded a core Republican constituency. 
 
CSF Communication’s Director Melinda Gable said, “I don’t think John McCain has really made his case to hunters and anglers.   Things were very different in 2004. Everybody knew that George W. Bush was from Texas, he was a rancher and that he went hunting. We haven’t seen that from McCain yet—there’s the unknown—he really needs to come out as a sportsman. Neither candidate has talked a lot about the issues that are important to us.”
 
McCain has a mostly pro-gun record in the Senate, opposing the Clinton Gun ban on certain semi-automatic firearms (misnamed assault weapons) and he supported the Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.  However, he’s not an avid hunter (but that should be a little concern because only the media and the gun ban lobby believe the Second Amendment is not about hunting) and has battled the National Rifle Association over his support for background checks on private sale of firearms at gun shows and his crusade for campaign finance reform. 
 
McCain has tried to soothe the bad feelings at each of his appearances before NRA members in the past year (at the Annual Meeting in Louisville in May of this year and at the Celebration of American Values in September of ’07) by portraying the Democrats as a common enemy.  In May, he told those attending the Annual Meeting, “They claim to support hunters and gun owners.  If… Senator Obama is elected president, the rights of law-abiding gun owners will be at risk.” 
 
The survey showed that hunters have no great affection for Obama.  Obama’s long history of favoring more restrictive gun control laws as a state legislator is likely to blame. The poll showed that about half of those polled say they like McCain and would love to go on a hunt with him – compared to 29 percent who feel the same way about Obama.   National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) President Steve Sanetti told the Politico that “Sportsmen view John McCain as good company in the great outdoors.  They’re just not sure how much fun Barack Obama would be in a duck blind.”Fishermen are a little more Obama friendly, but favor the Arizona senator by a 44-to-31 margin.
 
For those not familiar with CSF, the group advocates gun rights and expanded access to federal land for hunters in congress and is bipartisan.  A number of congressmen and senator’s are members of the foundation,s Congressional Sportmen’s Caucus (including Virginia’s Sen. John Warner, Rep. Rick Boucher, Rep. Eric Cantor, Rep. Thelma Drake, Rep. Virgil Goode, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Rep. Rob Wittman, and Rep. Frank Wolf).

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Welcome to Virginia Gun Rights

Posted in gun rights, hunting, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on August 3, 2008| 1 Comment »

Welcome to Virginia Gun Rights.  On this site you will be able to join the NRA, Virginia Shooting Sports Association, and discuss topics that affect our gun rights and hunting heritage. I hope you will visit often.

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