These conservative rating formulas are a gimmick—yet another DC Insider scam the Permanent Political Class plays on the voter class.
For example, suppose the ONLY way to stop a piece of disastrous liberal legislation is to NOT allow it out of committee. Our mighty conservative warriors align with the Dems and vote for cloture. Guess what—that vote doesn’t count against their conservative rating. Yet afterward the passage of the devastating legislation is a foregone conclusion. (Of course at that time the ‘conservative’ goes on the warpath against the bill, making a huge show of opposing it—safe in the knowledge that such opposition is doomed to fail. It’s all a ruse.)
Same with pro 2A ratings. Let’s say there are 96 gun-related votes of no particular 2A significance, but a senator votes pro-gun on all of them. Then there are four votes of abject life and death importance to the 2A. The senator votes anti-2A on all four. Guess what his overall pro-2A rating is? 96%. He’s a pro-gun champ!
It’s all a racket.
No, you are mistaken. The GOA takes committee votes into account. They are the best and most rigorous raters on Second Amendment support that exists.
GOA is HATED by the “political class.”