The Gun Lobby's Loss

[TxD]

This from the NYT.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/opini ... .html?_r=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Gun Lobby’s Loss

Published: December 1, 2008
The gun lobby has long intimidated politicians with its war chest and its trumpeted ability to deliver single-issue voters, especially in tight races. After this year’s election, those politicians should be far less afraid and far more willing to vote for sensible gun-control laws.

The National Rifle Association directed much money and bile against Barack Obama. In false, misleading and, fortunately, ineffective ads, fliers, mailers and Web postings, the group said that Mr. Obama posed a “clear and present danger” to Second Amendment rights and that his election would mean a gun ban.

Despite that harsh barrage, Mr. Obama won states with heavy gun ownership, including Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. That success should send a signal to other politicians: consistency matters.

In fact, Mr. Obama has long been a supporter of the argument, disputed by this page, that the Second Amendment bestows an individual right to bear arms unrelated to raising a militia. But Mr. Obama did not abandon his support for reasonable gun-control laws. “Don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals,” he declared at the Democratic convention.

In Congressional races, the N.R.A. endorsed candidates in 20 of the 25 races where Democrats picked up seats from Republicans. We will not miss Florida’s Tom Feeney and Ric Keller, Idaho’s Bill Sali, Michigan’s Joe Knollenberg, Ohio’s Steve Chabot, Colorado’s Marilyn Musgrave and Pennsylvania’s Phil English — willing champions of an extreme agenda.

On the Senate side, the N.R.A. spent considerable sums to help Senator Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina and Bob Schaffer, the Republican Senate candidate in Colorado. Both were defeated.

And the N.R.A.’s poor showing was not just a single isolated event. A useful election analysis prepared by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence shows that its 2006 campaign effort also was a big flop.

We hope the trend continues. To fight crime and keep Americans safe, this country needs sound gun-control laws. To pass those laws as president, Mr. Obama will need strong Congressional support.

[bdickens]

What a pack of lies.

Maybe we need "reasonable restrictions" like licensing and testing on the First Amendment, too.

[nitrogen]

The NRA DID go over the top; without being untruthful. I think the real lesson here was, many gun owners will vote against their gun interests if they find other things important; whatever those other things might be.

They might change their mind in 4 years if the NRA ends up being right.

[Purplehood]

I believe that the NRA increased awareness on the National level regarding handguns and the RKBA. I also feel that the voting populace was more concerned with economic issues and the desire for radical change in government than they were with the issues addressed by groups such as the NRA.
Mr. Obamas actions may or may not bring those to the nations attention again in the near-future.

[Skiprr]

Ah, The New York Times, the best, big-city newspaper in the land...at least, the one whose owners and editors have no qualms about being so biased and blindered that they frequently find themselves kissing the shoelaces of some of the most radical leftists: you see, the editors are already leaning so far in that direction that stray breezes continually topple them over. If you ever visit their offices, check under the managers' desks. You'll find prayer mats just in case Bloomberg and Soros deign to grace them with their presences.

[shootthesheet]

President Bush, the liberal Republican congress, and John McCain elected Obama and his kind. Why vote for McCain the liberal when they could vote for Obama and throw the Republicans out. They got what they deserved and we are all going to pay a very expensive price for it.

[jpierce30]

No matter how much the NRA tries to help get RKBA people elected, when the Republicans are acting like Democrats and bending to someone elses values (or lack of) then the Republicans lose.
It is a shame that the so called conservatives have been leaning so far across the isle that they forgot who elected them. Maybe some will learn a lesson at our great expense.
"The New York Times" what an example of unbiased journalism.

[txmatt]

President Bush, the liberal Republican congress, and John McCain elected Obama and his kind. Why vote for McCain the liberal when they could vote for Obama and throw the Republicans out. They got what they deserved and we are all going to pay a very expensive price for it.

+1

The NRA did a halfway decent job of pointing out Obama's shortcomings, but without someone to support it was limited in what effect it could have.

It would have been nice if the NRA attacks on Obama had stuck to the facts (which were bad enough.) Their weaker and very bold statements made it easier for leftist organizations like factcheck.org to dismiss their attacks in their entirety even though, probably seven of their ten points (I don't have them infront of me) were dead on, but those two or three that were not on solid footing or were slight exaggerations hurt the cause.

This article just shows that the left learned absolutely nothing in 94. They also fail to note that many of the gains of the democrats in 06 were more moderate, pro-gun dems.

[Charles L. Cotton]

The Brady Campaign's "analysis" is clearly result oriented. For example, when they claim they won 90% of the races when they chose to endorse a candidate, this ignores the fact that they chose to endorse only candidates they knew would win and only few of those. The NRA endorsed far more candidates. I have a report from Chris Cox and I'll ask if it's okay for me to post the true results.

Chas.

[stroo]

factcheck.org was a joke. It falsified a bunch of things during the campaign, not just about the NRA ads. Unfortunately a lot of people believed it.

[asleepatthereel]

“Don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals,” he declared at the Democratic convention.

I'm going to love seeing how he gets that right

Especially since we all know that only criminals own AK47s.
Im lucky. Stripes make me look skinny.

[Skiprr]

factcheck.org was a joke. It falsified a bunch of things during the campaign, not just about the NRA ads. Unfortunately a lot of people believed it.