Posted on 08/20/2004 2:24:24 AM PDT by kattracks
(CNSNews.com) - Sen. John Kerry's desire to be viewed as a gun-toting Democrat has left the gun-control lobby noticeably silent during the 2004 presidential campaign, relegated to the sidelines on an issue that played a significant role in the election four years ago.
One of the nation's leading gun-control organizations, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, has focused almost exclusively on the soon-to-expire "assault weapons" ban, making little mention of the election itself. But in 2000, the group spent $5 million, most of it targeted at President George W. Bush.
Kerry, meanwhile, has orchestrated campaign stops in an effort to appeal to gun owners. With a gun in hand, he staged events at Wisconsin's Gunslick Trap Club in July and on the Iowa plains in October.
Kerry's strategy was outlined last fall by the gun-control group Americans for Gun Safety, along with the Democratic Leadership Council and pollster Mark Penn, who advised Democrats to tone down their harsh rhetoric.
"Democratic candidates for president are taking the gun issue to the political center, rejecting the most far-reaching gun restrictions supported by former candidates Al Gore and Bill Bradley," a February press release from Americans for Gun Safety says.
But since Democrats have wrapped up their primary -- clashing at times over former Vermont Governor Howard Dean's top rating from the National Rifle Association -- the gun issue has disappeared from the forefront of the campaign.
"I'm not sure why Kerry isn't focusing more on the gun violence prevention issue," said Chad Ramsey, a regional director for the Brady Campaign. "I think it's fine that he's showing he's a hunter. There are a lot of hunters who agree that assault weapons should be banned."
Although Kerry's use of gun imagery in the campaign doesn't bother the Brady Campaign, pro-gun groups like the National Rifle Association have made much of Kerry's photo opportunities. The NRA's television ads aim to focus attention on Kerry's voting record instead.
"John Kerry's record speaks volumes about his views against the Second Amendment," said Kelly Hobbs, an NRA spokeswoman. "A John Kerry administration would be tantamount to a death sentence for Second Amendment rights."
The Brady Campaign's Ramsey didn't dispute Kerry's voting record. After all, Kerry has consistently received a 100 percent rating from the group. Kerry also took time out of his campaign in March to fly to Washington to vote in favor of extending the gun ban.
"I don't think Kerry is trying to be someone he's not. That's part of his persona; he goes hunting. He is an excellent shot. That's part of who he is, and there's no sense hiding that," Ramsey said. "I think he also has not hidden the fact that he believes in gun violence prevention and has voted that way every time he's had a chance to."
But after Al Gore touted his support for strict gun control during his 2000 presidential bid, Democrats have recognized the drawbacks of doing so. Gore lost Arkansas, his home state of Tennessee and West Virginia, which could have turned the election his way.
"Gore was advocating federal licensing, and that's a pretty radical thing," said Matt Bennett, an adviser to Americans for Gun Safety. "Kerry certainly doesn't support that. And Kerry's gone out of his way on the campaign trail, both during the primaries and recently, to do events where he's shooting to make clear to people he's a hunter, a sports shooter and a gun owner."
Other gun-control supporters dismiss the notion that Gore's tough rhetoric cost him the election. New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy's spokesman, Rob Recklaus, said the impact of groups like the NRA has been exaggerated.
"There's a misconception that somehow, the pro-gun [vote] cost Gore the election in 2000," Recklaus said. "The NRA keeps on saying the original 1994 assault weapons ban and the Brady Bill were the reasons the Democrats lost the election. It's completely revisionist. There were a lot of things going on in 1994 that cost the Democrats the House, and I don't think guns were one of them."
Not so, according to Erich Pratt, spokesman for Gun Owners of America. Even former President Bill Clinton estimated that the 1994 gun ban cost 20 Democrats their jobs, giving Republicans control of Congress.
"The firearms issue is one of the strongest single issues that plays in a voter's mind," Pratt said. "What an NRA or a GOA has to say about a candidate is going to make a huge difference. This is an issue that will pull people, no matter what their political affiliation."
Pratt suggested that Kerry's effort to appear gun-friendly might be why gun-control groups have taken a lesser role in his campaign.
"You almost wonder if the Kerry campaign has asked the Brady [Campaign] to put a zip on it and keep quiet," Pratt said. "I think it would be suicide for them to go into the suburban and rural areas. But New York City, places like that, their issue may sell to voters. But once you get outside of there, you really don't find widespread support for their issues."
Ramsey of the Brady Campaign dismissed those suggestions or that there was infighting among gun-control groups about how to handle Kerry.
"We're still the preeminent gun violence prevention organization out there. When it comes to that, the politicians come to us and ask policy advice," Ramsey said. "There's no battle for who has the ear of who's running for president."
See Earlier Story:
Republicans Head to Convention Divided on Gun Ban (Aug. 19, 2004)
E-mail a news tip to Robert B. Bluey.
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I cannot believe pro-gun groups are buying his act or even gun owners for that matter
So come election-time he prances around with a shotgun for a few photo ops and, big surprise there, claims to be every gun owners' friend.
Any gun owner who buys such stinking BS needs to be smacked upside the head for being too stupid to own a firearm, much less vote.
Many times I often wonder who is more dangerous, the person too stupid to own a gun or the one who is too stupid to vote...although they're often the same person.
Don't worry Joe, nobody's really fooled. Except maybe a few union members.
Do they REALLY expect anyone to believe this?
"There are a lot of hunters who agree that assault weapons should be banned."
I tell you, Bubba with the IQ about half that of the deer he hunts and Reginald Winthrop the Fourth with his matching set of $20,000 custom made shotguns he takes on hunting trips to Uruaguay every year are one of biggest problems.
Two decades of opposing gun owners` rights in the U.S. Senate make John Kerry the most anti-gun presidential nominee in U.S. history!
FACT: Kerry has voted nine times in favor of banning semi-auto firearms.
FACT: Kerry has voted for a Ted Kennedy amendment to ban most rifle ammunition, including the most common rounds used by hunters and target shooters.
FACT: Kerry has voted to close off hundreds of thousands of acres to hunting in the California Mojave Desert.
FACT: Kerry has voted to hold America`s firearms makers — not violent criminals — responsible for crimes commited with firearms.
FACT: Kerry was one of only 18 Senators who opposed the Firearms Owners` Protection Act, which ended alarming abuses being committed under the 1968 Gun Control Act.
FACT: Kerry has voted to allow unlimited warrant-less inspections of FFL holders.
FACT: Kerry has voted to criminalize legal sales between private citizens at gun shows.
FACT: Kerry has voted against increasing mandatory minimum and maximum penalties for the illegal transfer or use of a firearm. But he voted to impose penalties of a year in prison and a $10,000 fine on an adult if a juvenile steals a gun from him and then displays it in a public place.
FACT: Kerry has voted to force many small firearms dealers out of business, which would have impacted both the availability and price of guns, particularly in rural areas.
FACT: Kerry has voted 11 times to force law-abiding citizens to wait to exercise their Second Amendment rights. He voted to keep the federal waiting period after the National Instant Check System was in place.
FACT: Kerry voted twice to eliminate the Civilian Marksmanship Program.
FACT: Kerry commended an anti-gun group`s demonstration in Washington that called for gun owner licensing, gun registration and other restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.
FACT: If elected president, Kerry will pack the U.S. Supreme Court with Feinstein/Schumer/ Kennedy-selected anti-gun activists who believe you have no right to own any firearm.
If calling gun owners "Extreme Psychotics" is keeping quiet, I don't know what the other end of the spectrum is.
All any gun owner needs to know about Kerry is that he went out of his way to fly back to DC to vote for The Swimmer's .30-30 ban amendment to the frivolous lawsuit bill.
Ha ha ha ha. Kerry, and Democrats in general don't have a clue as to what appeals to gun owners (for that matter most republicans including King George II don't appeal to gun owners remember the famous "Where else are they going to go?" quote?)
That is the unfortunate truth.
However, the Bush clan ain't much better. The import bans and everything else from Bush the Elder should have us on guard for shennanigans by GW. So far, yes just "so far", he seems to have learned the lesson his one term father did. "Don't screw over your gun toting constituents. 80 million people is a BIG swing voter block". Our Rights are not your barganing chip. You either respect those Rights or you can go back to being a civilian. The Presidents comments about "I'll sign it if it gets to my desk" and his CFR related" Constitutional questions" don't give me a lot of hope. We need a FMCDH type President and some Congress Critters with some backbone to back him up.
Impeaching a few judges that care more about case law than the Constitution would be good too.
Screw John F'n Kerry. Send his a$$ home.
Vote a straight Republican Ballot this November.
I like Bush. The way things seem to be shaping up for November, I will vote for him. But I am under no illusions that he wouldn't sign pretty much any gun control legislation that gets to his desk. We have the House, I suppose, to thank for not passing along any anti-gun bills to him. It's a slender thread, but it's better than Kerry.
The informed groups aren't. Its mostly the brain dead hunting/sporting clay types that get sucked into the lies. You know...the ones that say 'assault weapons' should be banned. They think the gun banners will leave them alone. Little do they know (b/c of gross stupidity and blinding selfishness) that once the AWs are gone they'll have to pony up their guns as well. Then there are the true dems who are gun owners (yes and there are lots of them too). No matter how nasty their guy is they'll vote for him. This type has no excuse...at least the 'sportsmen' can plead stupidity.
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