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Posts Tagged ‘Barrack Obama and Guns’

NRA-PVF Campaign Ads Hit the Air

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

Virginian Karl Rusch appears in an NRA ad targeting hunters urging them to defeat Obama on November 4th.

His son, former Marine Staff Sgt. Kurt Rusch, a veteran of the Iraq war, appears in an ad targeting veterans, that talks about how they fought to protect the very freedom that Obama threatens.

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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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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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