Free Republic

Never mind the fact that the NRA goes into a hiding hole in the ground somewhere everytime there is a dust up, leaving 2nd Amendment Supporters and Law Abiding Gun Owners to fend for themselves, which brings the usual question around these times. Where is the NRA? A more important question needs to be asked. As we see so-called "pro gun" Democrats warming up to tighter gun controls, according to reports, we may just see where are membership dues went to those who will not help. How many of these Democrats that will come out for gun control laws did...

Says our source: "They lost in the Supreme Court, they lost in Congress, they lost at the FEC, so now the president is just going to do it by edict." An impeccable source has provided me with a copy of a draft Executive Order pdf that the White House is apparently circulating for comments from several government agencies. Titled “Disclosure of Political Spending By Government Contractors,” it appears to be an attempt by the Obama administration to implement — by executive fiat — portions of the DISCLOSE Act. This was the bill introduced last year by Sen. Chuck Schumer and...

You might expect that the man who is incoming president of the National Rifle Association and was chairman of the American Conservative Union would be a double-barrel ideologue. Not quite. David Keene’s friends include liberal-leaning types like Al Hunt of Bloomberg News, former ABC correspondent Sam Donaldson, former New York Times reporter Adam Clymer, and former Democratic presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy. Keene never hesitates to mention that his mother and father were labor union organizers in Wisconsin or that, as a teenager, he passed out literature for John F. Kennedy during the presidential primary. Moreover, Keene has stood firm against...

This alert was recently sent out to the Florida Medical Association's members, presaging a special-interest free-for-all as it tussles with the NRA over its bill banning doctor inquiries about gun ownership. Dear Colleagues, As you have probably heard, there is legislation moving in the Florida Legislature, SB 432 and HB 155, which is a major intrusion into the patient-physician relationship. These bills place the government in the middle of the relationship between doctors and our patients by regulating what questions physicians can ask during a private medical examination. This legislation criminalizes doctors who ask their patients about gun ownership to...

A national organization wants Iowans to be allowed to carry guns without permission, without background checks and without training. The National Rifle Association is trying to block Iowa cities and counties from establishing "weapons free zones" in parks, city halls, courthouses and other government buildings. The NRA says Iowa residents should be able to use deadly force to defend themselves at home or anywhere they need to. A lobbyist for the organization says a major push is planned to expand gun rights in Iowa. Legislators said Friday they need to see the exact wording of any proposals before making any...

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation today filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against several New Jersey officials for deprivation of civil rights under color of law. SAF is joined in the lawsuit by the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, Inc. and six private citizens whose applications for permits to carry have been denied generally on the grounds that they have not shown a “justifiable need.” One of the plaintiffs is a kidnap victim, another is a part-time sheriff’s deputy, a third carries large amounts of cash in his private...

Harry Reid creates special leadership job for Chuck Schumer By: Manu Raju November 15, 2010 03:49 PM EST Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to overhaul the Senate Democratic leadership next year, handing New York Sen. Chuck Schumer an expanded role spearheading the party's messaging efforts. In a letter obtained by POLITICO, Reid tells his colleagues that the party needs to "better integrate our legislative- and message-crafting functions into a coordinated nucleus managing policy, press and politics." As a result, he said, the Senate leadership will unite its policy arm with its communications center into a "joint operation" run by...

LAQUEY, Mo. (Oct. 30, 2010) — With the major exception of the Missouri Farm Bureau, many organizations which typically endorse conservative Republican candidates for office have endorsed Congressman Ike Skelton for years despite him being a Democrat. That includes right to life and veterans organizations, as well as the National Rifle Association; the Farm Bureau had endorsed Skelton for 14 years until this election. However, the NRA endorsement of Skelton over his Republican challenger, Vicky Hartzler, has become a point of controversy this year. Skelton has severely attacked Hartzler for opposing a 1998 proposal to place concealed carry permits on...

“As Reid Falters, Schumer Subtly Stands in the Wings,” The New York Times headline warns gun owners. A perennial leading political enemy of the right to keep and bear arms, Schumer’s potential ascendancy to a vacated leadership slot would seem to validate NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox’s “four words” parroted by so many Fairfax apologists: Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Before the chorus of “We told you so” begins, let me just say this:So what?Unless all major political pundits are wrong, the House of Representatives, which the Senate needs consensus with in order to pass any bill up to the President...

As an avid hunter and conservationist, I hope Sheboygan area voters remember State Rep. Terry Van Akkeren selling out his constituents just a few years ago. Remember when Rep. Van Akkeren told us he supported concealed carry during his campaigns and then voted for concealed carry legislation in 2003, voted for the veto override in 2004, and voted for similar legislation that was eventually vetoed by Gov. Doyle in 2006? I admired Terry for standing up to a Democratic Party that on a whole is hostile to Second Amendment rights and representing his constituents. That was until Gov. Doyle needed...

Those who follow gun blogs know there's a recurring debate between gun owners who prefer National Rifle Association political strategies and those who challenge them. I'd like to address a few of the more contentious points I see being raised on blogs and discussion boards:Gun Owners of America grades candidates on issues that have nothing to do with the Second Amendment, for instance, they counted a vote against Candidate X because he/she voted for what they call "anti-gun Obamacare." That has nothing to do with guns.Harry Reid didn't think so when he offered an amendment to the health care bill--one,...

Basically, the NRA endorses yet another Democrat Ted Strickland in this election cycle over a conservative pro-gun Republican candidate John Kasich. NRA lobbyist John Hohenwarter made the announcement endorsing Strickland. Then there are threats from the Democrats to Kasich, “knows southern Ohio is not safe for him.”

2nd Amendment – I have fond memories of my first job at the age of 12 loading skeet at the gun club my father and grandfather were members of. They taught me at an early age about the 2nd Amendment, which guarantees the right to keep and bear arms. I personally own firearms and hold a Georgia Firearms License. I will never vote to restrict your right to carry and I fully support HB 615.--Diana Williams There is a candidate for the state senate in Georgia who has answered on the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund's questionnaire (see slide...

In a remarkable video from the folks at Grass Roots North Carolina, 2nd Amendment Civil Rights Attorney Alan Gura outlines his experience with cases before the Supreme Court and details the missteps the NRA has made with their approach to 2nd Amendment Litigation. Primarily, the NRA seems unable to distinguish between legislative lobby tactics and judicial litigation tactics with disastrous outcomes possible from the confusion. His recommendation? Read More…

(Oct. 23, 2010) — It’s gotten much less attention than the disputed Veterans of Foreign Wars endorsement, but a similar debate is currently happening in the National Rifle Association, which endorsed Democratic U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton over his Republican challenger Vicky Hartzler while giving both Skelton and Hartzler an “A” rating. While she didn’t receive the NRA endorsement, Hartzler has also been touting her endorsements by two much smaller organizations, the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance and Gun Owners of America. Locally, the NRA also endorsed incumbent Missouri State Sen. Frank Barnitz, a Dent County Democrat, by giving him an “A-plus”...

Others have complained about flawed NRA candidate ratings. Now let us examine why the organization purporting to defend the Second Amendment has been systematically selling out… As conservatives battle to wrest control of Congress back from the left, liberal news organs like The Washington Post, National Public Radio and even “The Gray Lady” herself have cheered the NRA as it endorses Democrats across the country. And rest assured the NRA’s efforts are systematic. Take, for example, an e-mail I got yesterday from “Marge”: “Isn't it strange that the NRA has supported Shuler, but you, based only on the answers to...

Like it or not – and it is clear from their reaction that the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence does not – a ruling by a Wisconsin circuit court judge that found the state’s prohibition on concealed carry to be unconstitutional is an affirmation that the Second Amendment Foundation’s victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago was not only proper, it was the right thing to do. My esteemed colleague, Wisconsin Gun Rights Examiner Gene German, writes about the Wisconsin case here, and he clearly is delighted that Clark County Judge Jon Counsell issued the ruling. Wisconsin is one...

When Rep. Scott Murphy hit the campaign trail Monday, he made sure to drop by a meeting of the Columbia County Sportsmen’s Federation. There, the upstate New York Democrat, who neither owns a gun nor hunts, touted a recent endorsement by the National Rifle Association to bolster his contention that he is an enthusiastic fan of Second Amendment rights. The backing from the influential gun-rights organization gave the first-term Congressman an opening with a constituency that is suspicious of Democrats, who are often viewed as too liberal on the issue. This year in particular, when many Democrats such as Murphy...

If you’ve been puzzled by the NRA’s endorsements of liberal Democrats and wondering what would happen if it got its way, here’s the voting records of a sample of the NRA’s liberal Democrat buddies. Note: NARAL is a pro abortion group ACU is the American Conservative Union, NTU is the National Taxpayers Union GOA is the Gun Owners of America SEIU is the Service Employees International Union a far left group. Their cumulative scores are as follows: NARAL 67.5% ACU 18.2% NTU 11.7% SEIU 90.3% GOA C- The numbers strongly suggest that the NRA is perfectly pleased with the way...

The increasing number of NRA endorsements of Democrats raises some questions. Does anyone at the NRA understand political dynamics? Does the governing board of the NRA really believe voting in congress happens in a vacuum free of any extraneous political influences such as threats to cut off campaign funds? Perhaps more to the point; does the NRA have no concept of the sharply divergent mission of the Democrat Party as compared to the aims of freedom for all Americans? Does the NRA actually believe that when the liberal Democrat dream of a soviet style gulag nation, made to stink less...