Presidential Candidates Ask for NRA Support
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
By Frank Miniter
The scene was common enough in American politics: 500 people
seated in a ballroom at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C.,
television cameras glaring at a podium, and a full cast of 2008
presidential candidates set to speak. Only the event wasn't common
at all. The candidates came to a first-ever symposium where they
would affirm their support for the Second Amendment of the
Constitution before a crowd of National Rifle Association members.
Just a few election cycles ago political pundits might have deemed
the event poor presidential politics.
Or so Vice President Al Gore thought. In 2000, Gore licked his
index finger, held it in the political winds, and decided being
anti-gun was smart national politics. He thought a post-Columbine
nation was poised to pass sweeping gun control. He was sure the
Million Mom March was pure populist genius. Then America's 80
million gun owners taught him a hard lesson: Americans cherish
their constitutional rights. In fact, the NRA-inspired rebuke of
Gore's anti-Second Amendment stance cost him his home state of
Tennessee. As a result, in 2004, Senator John Kerry tried a more
deceptive strategy. He went hunting. But, thanks to the NRA, no one
was fooled. Kerry had received a 100-percent rating from the
anti-hunting Humane Society of the United States and had backed
legislation that would have banned the firearms and ammunition most
hunters use. Thanks in part to the nation's gun owners going to the
polls armed with all that information, Kerry became a victim of his
own hypocrisy.
Because of the experiences of Gore and Kerry, the 2008
presidential candidates know that the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
is as mainstream as baseball in America and so, unless they have
something to hide, they'd be wise to make their positions clear. To
give them a forum to do so, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne
LaPierre and NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox hosted "A
Celebration of American Values" on September 21-22, 2007, the first
event in what will be a national tour. The results were clarifying.
Politicians spelled out their views on the Second Amendment before
the primaries and caucuses take place, thereby allowing voters to
pick their party's candidates effectively. And the crowd was
animated. Print and television reporters gave the event
unprecedented ink and airtime. C-SPAN aired the event live-and has
rerun it several times since. A New York Sun op-ed by Kenneth
Blackwell accurately summed up the importance of the event: "In
each of the last four even-year general elections gun owners have
had a massive impact. And the National Rifle Association has proven
to everyone that if you want to win the presidency, earning the
support of gun owners and Second Amendment defenders might be the
deciding factor. ... The NRA is in a stronger position than ever to
influence the 2008 elections. "
With that goal in mind, ILA Executive Director Chris Cox said,
"This forum was not intended to serve as the springboard for an NRA
endorsement in the presidential campaign. As we have historically
done, we will carefully weigh every candidates past actions and
future commitments on all issues affecting the Second Amendment
before making an endorsement decision."
NRA members came to hear and question Senator John McCain
(R-Ariz.), former Senator Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), former New York
City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former Arkansas Governor Mike
Huckabee; in fact, before the end of the Conference, they heard
from Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Mississippi Governor Haley
Barbour, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, Representative John
Dingell (D-Mich.), former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, Senator
John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), former
Representative Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.), and former Speaker of the
House Newt Gingrich. And there were taped messages from California
Rep. Duncan Hunter, Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, New Mexico Governor
Bill Richardson and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
By the end of the day America's gun owners found out if their
candidates believe that the Second Amendment, as former Governor
Mike Huckabee declared, "means what it says and says what it
means," or if their candidates would work to take away Americans'
unique Right to Keep and Bear Arms under the guise of some
historically twisted, collective-rights interpretation of the
Second Amendment.
The event received phenomenal media attention because the
presidential race is already in full swing; in fact, the race could
be solidified with primaries this winter and gun rights could be a
defining issue. As a result, the NRA is moving fast to make sure
NRA members have the information they need to choose candidates who
will respect the Second Amendment. But the NRA can't succeed
without its members' support. To make this point clear, NRA
Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre urged NRA members to make
sure their friends, neighbors, or spouses who believe in a true
reading of the Bill of Rights become NRA members and register to
vote.
To be sure America's gun owners are not caught snoozing, the NRA
has launched an ambitious membership drive in cooperation with
hundreds of businesses small and large to recruit new NRA members.
In a major announcement at the event, Mike Golden, CEO of Smith
& Wesson, explained that because of this new industry
initiative "all America's gun owners should wake up, look around
and see they must join the NRA, the civil-liberties organization
defending their Second Amendment rights."
Doug Painter, president of the National Shooting Sports
Foundation, told readers of SHOT Business, whose primary audience
is firearm industry retailers and wholesalers, "We should never
underestimate the bedrock value of the voting bloc represented by
our customers, the millions of gun owners across the country who
place a high political value on their firearm freedoms." In that
same article, former NRA President Sandy Froman said, "We must
start building the NRA membership immediately, so that we have a
large grassroots army trained and in place for the next election
cycle." (Logon to www.insureyourgunrights.com to see what you can
do to help.)
Senator John McCain Arizona Senator John McCain has been widely
criticized for fighting for and passing the McCain-Feingold
Campaign Reform Act of 2002, a law that prohibits organizations,
such as the NRA, from running issue ads that name a federal
candidate within 30 days of a primary or caucus or 60 days of a
general election. The NRA was in the forefront in its opposition to
the law's free-speech ban. McCain addressed such disagreements in
his speech by saying, "Over the years, we've not agreed on every
issue. We had differences over my efforts to standardize sales
procedures at gun shows and to clean up our campaign finance
system. I understand and respect your position."
Sen. John McCain
Throughout his address McCain won applause with declarations
such as, "The Second Amendment is unique in the world and at the
core of our constitutional freedoms. It guarantees an individual
Right to Keep and Bear Arms. To argue anything else is to reject
the clear meaning of our Founding Fathers." He also said, "I oppose
devious efforts to use lawsuits to bankrupt our firearms
manufacturers."
Later in his speech McCain announced, "The citizens of the
nation's capital do not enjoy the Right to Keep and Bear arms.
That's why I've co-sponsored legislation repealing the ban on
firearms possession for law-abiding citizens in the District of
Columbia. The Second Amendment is not just for rural Arizona; it's
for all of America."
McCain also feinted at Senator John Kerry's attempts to
overshadow his anti-gun legislation by going hunting, pointing out
that there's a hunting myth in national politics: "If you show your
bona fides by hunting ducks or varmints or quail, it makes up for
support of gun control. This myth overlooks a fundamental truth:
The Second Amendment is not about hunting, it's about freedom."
Senator Fred Thompson
Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson was the next high-profile
candidate to address the audience. He did so after a video on his
accomplishments titled "The Hunt for Red November" aired. He won
the crowd with: "I do remember a relationship from way back, from
the time that Charlton Heston came to Tennessee in 1994, and I
formed a friendship with that great American and watched him hobble
across the state with me on a bad hip and go through pain to help
me win my first election in the United States Senate."
Then Sen. Thompson got to the basis of his philosophy by saying,
"I never subscribed to the notion that it made our country safer by
infringing on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.
I think back to the 'A' rating I got from this organization and the
endorsements that I was proud to receive. So it's not just a matter
of promises made, as far as I'm concerned, it's a matter of
commitments that have been kept."
Later he pointed out, "My philosophy does not depend on my
geography." And he told the assembly, "I never subscribed to the
notion that it made our country safer by infringing on the Second
Amendment." In answer to a question on the individual rights
interpretation of the Second Amendment, Thompson said, "...the
Constitution does mean what is says and is not restricted to
protection of militias."
Governor Mitt Romney
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's taped speech was
played on screens in which he said, "Let me speak very directly and
candidly about where I stand. I support the Second Amendment as one
of the most basic and fundamental rights of every American. It's
essential to our functioning as a free society, as are all the
liberties enumerated in the Bill of Rights. I've been proud to have
the support of pro-Second Amendment and sportsman's groups in my
previous runs for public office. I'd be proud to have your support
again as I campaign for president."
Then he commented, "I'll ask Congress to repeal the
McCain-Feingold law which sought to impose restrictions on the
First Amendment rights of groups like the NRA to advocate for
issues we care about."
Mayor Rudy Giuliani
The next speaker was former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a
national spokesman who advocated for passage of the Clinton
semi-auto ban and supported passage of federal gun-owner licensing.
As gun owners know, he also championed lawsuits to hold legal
firearms manufacturers responsible for criminals who use firearms
to commit violent crime. Prohibiting these lawsuits resulted in a
hard-fought battle led by NRA's Institute for Legislative Action
that ended with the passage of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in
Arms Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush.
After his speech, in answer to the question, "do you still
believe that the American gun companies should be held liable for
the unforeseeable criminal misuse of their products?" Giuliani
replied, "I did initiate that lawsuit back in 2000. Since then, I
think that lawsuit has taken several turns and several twists that
I don't agree with. I also think that there have been subsequent
intervening events-September 11-which cast somewhat of a different
light on the Second Amendment and Second Amendment rights. Doesn't
change the fundamental rights, but maybe it highlights the
necessity for them more. So I think that lawsuit has gone in a
direction that I probably don't agree with at this point."
In his speech Giuliani stressed his law enforcement credentials
saying that when he took over as Mayor of New York City crime was
out of control. Giuliani said he reduced the murder rate by 66
percent by holding people responsible for their actions and that
he'd do the same as president. He later summed up his point by
saying, "The bottom line is we need to step up enforcement against
gun crimes and leave law-abiding citizens alone."
Giuliani explained that he read and analyzed the Parker v. The
District of Columbia decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit, a ruling that overturned the D.C. gun
ban, a three-decade old prohibition on the possession of firearms
within D.C. Giuliani deemed the Parker decision "an excellent
example of strict constructionism." In Parker, Senior Judge
Lawrence H. Silberman, joined by Judge Thomas B. Griffith,
concluded that "the Second Amendment protects an individual right
to keep and bear arms." The decision has since been appealed to the
U.S. Supreme Court and Giuliani concluded that "the Parker decision
should be upheld ... to underscore the Castle Doctrine."
Giuliani's views on gun control garnered most of the
newscasters' attention. In fact, later that evening CNN reporter
Carol Costello asked LaPierre: "So, Rudy Giuliani stood up there
and he said, 'I know you're not going to agree with some of what I
have to say, but you can believe this, that I will put into place
the plan that I have.' How did that go over with the NRA?"
LaPierre responded that, "this whole forum today was the first
step in a process of our involvement in the presidential race.
We're going to send this out to our members. We're going to listen
to what they have to say about all the candidates. And then we are
going to do what's right to defend the Second Amendment."
Governor Mike Huckabee
When addressing the United Nations' attempts to disarm
law-abiding Americans, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said,
"International law doesn't have an application in the appellate
process or the adjudication process in an American court." And he
later commented that, "Frankly, if the United Nations continues to
come at us with such outrageous things, then we should not be too
disappointed if the whole thing were to break off and float away in
the East River, never to be seen or heard from again."
Huckabee boasted that he was the first sitting governor of
Arkansas to receive a permit to carry a concealed handgun and
criticized some other candidates by declaring, "I didn't just join
the NRA last year."
On the Second Amendment, Huckabee expounded, "I sometimes marvel
that there are people in our country who will proliferously defend
the importance, the primacy and the value of the First
Amendment-our freedoms to speak, to assemble, to worship, the
freedom of the press-and somehow act as if the Second Amendment is
of lesser importance to our freedom than the first." He also said,
"We have a constitutional right granted to us, in the wisdom of our
forefathers, to protect our families, to protect them from
criminals, to protect them from whatever might harm them. And it is
as much of a constitutional right as it is the right to speak out
against our government ... . And let me be very clear: I do not
believe the Second Amendment has any geographical boundaries. It
does not apply differently on the East Coast than it does in the
South."
Rep. Duncan Hunter
Campaign-trail commitments prevented California Rep. Duncan
Hunter from attending the event, but he told the NRA members via
videotape that if they believe that keeping and bearing arms is an
important part of national security, they should join him in this
race for the presidency. "When you elect me, you'll have a real
Hunter in the White House." Hunter reaffirmed that Second Amendment
guarantees are not just for hunting, but also for self-defense and
protecting our communities and country.
Rep. Tom Tancredo
Presidential candidate Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo told the crowd
via a videotaped message that he is proud of his A-rating from the
NRA, and reminded them that he is a co-sponsor of the legislation
to overturn the D.C. gun ban. "I can't wait until that lower court
ruling is upheld, because I have a concealed-carry permit, and I'll
feel a lot safer, by the way, when I'm able to carry here in
Washington, D.C." Tancredo also elaborated on his pro-gun platform
with his co-sponsorship of legislation that would make it illegal
for the government to take away law-abiding citizens' guns in the
time of a crisis, such as in a post-hurricane Katrina situation,
and reiterated his support for legislation that would prevent
frivolous lawsuits from being filed in an attempt to bankrupt gun
manufacturers.
Governor Bill Richardson
Democratic candidate for president Governor Bill Richardson
didn't attend the event, but sent a video in which he said, "Thank
you for allowing me to take this time to address the NRA
Celebration of American Values. Responsible gun ownership, the
right of law-abiding citizens to own guns, is indeed, a
historically cherished American value and tradition. As a Western
governor, I understand and support the Second Amendment. I am
grateful to have received the formal endorsement of the NRA as a
Congressman, and again as governor in 2006. This position doesn't
always make me the most popular guy in the room with certain
audiences. But the reality is that New Mexico has an age-old
history of hunting, sportsmanship, and other lawful shooting
activities ... . I have a long record, both as a congressman and
governor, as a defender of the rights of citizens to own guns. You
may have heard that I not only supported New Mexico's 'Concealed
Carry' law, I have a permit myself."
Rep. John Dingell
Former NRA Board member Representative John Dingell (D-Mich.)
recalled the days "when firearms ownerships and basic rights were
very much under attack." Instrumental in helping to form NRA's
Institute for Legislative Action in 1975, Dingell remembered the
planning stages of NRA's lobbying arm: "We had to have a
combination of citizen action, fundraising, expenditures, lobbying
and public relation activities of a kind and character that would,
in fact, cause us to do the things that needed to be done, in the
way they had to be done, and in a way which was effective. That was
ILA."
Dingell also emphasized that NRA members best exemplify the
mainstream values of America. "We believe in hunting and fishing
and enjoying the outdoors. We're patriots. We serve our country in
time of war," he said, "and we protect the great constitutional
rights, all of them, including and especially the Second
Amendment."
Attorney General John Ashcroft
John Ashcroft took the opportunity to explain why, as Attorney
General, he produced a landmark policy paper stating that the
Second Amendment protects individual rights to bear arms. "...It
was high time in evaluating this right, to make reference to the
controlling document-the Constitution-and the intention of those
who framed it," he said. Prior to his time as Attorney General,
Ashcroft said there were people who wanted to migrate the
Constitution away from this concept. "They had gotten a number of
people to declare that it really wasn't a right that was inured to
individuals at all." A thorough 80-page opinion reflected otherwise, he said. "The most
comforting thing about it was that honest scholars on both sides of
the issue had to finally conclude-and some of them had to change
their opinions to do so-that what was intended, what was embodied
in the Constitution, what was enshrined there, was a durable right,
and that the right is inured to individuals, not to state
institutions and governmental institutions in particular."
Harold Ford, Jr.
Former Democratic Tennessee Representative Harold Ford, Jr. lent
his support via a videotaped message and offered his opinion on
pending gun legislation. "Right where you are today in our nation's
capital, law-abiding residents can't keep a gun to defend
themselves in their homes. That's wrong, he said." As a
congressman, Ford was a co-sponsor of the D.C. Personal Protection
Act. "The Bill of Rights applies to ever one, and the last time I
checked, the District of Columbia was a part of that great country.
It's out of our hands now and let's hope that the courts side with
us."
America Needs You
Former Speaker of the House, Georgia Republican Newt Gingrich,
the final speaker of the day, infused an inspirational speech with
constitutional reaffirmations and historical reminders. "We formed
the Constitution by loaning power to the government, but the
government does not have power over us, except to the degree that
we loan it," he said. After impressing upon the audience their
right to free speech guaranteed under the First Amendment and
declaring the unconstitutionality of the McCain-Feingold Act,
Gingrich went on to define the Founding Fathers' intentions of the
Second Amendment. "It's not, as some candidates suggest, about deer
hunting," he said. "The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a political
right granted at the core of the American system to ensure that the
American people have a right of self-protection and that no tyrant
can take away their power or can put them in a concentration camp
or can kill them without mercy. It is a political right."
Yet this is not merely an American challenge, said Gingrich.
"There is a worldwide effort underway by the left to strip
innocent, law-abiding citizens of the right to bear arms and to
coerce the United States by turning into international law a series
of provisions which are a fundamental assault on the core values of
the American Constitution and a fundamental assault on the core
values of the Founding Fathers," he said, and assigned blame on
this assault to billionaire financier George Soros, "who has spent
an amazing amount of the money he's earned in free society trying
to undermine the very freedoms that allowed him to become wealthy."
He went on to say that the United Nations also is today at the
center of a struggle to try to strip from us the Right to Keep and
Bear Arms by doing it through diplomacy "when they know they could
never possibly do it inside the United States in a political system
in which every effort to take away our rights has been defeated
again and again."
To understand how critical the '08 elections will be, Gingrich
left no doubt that gun owners can't rest through this pivotal
election. "If the left has its way guns will not be an issue in the
next election. They've gotten awfully good at hiding who they
really are until just after the election," he said.
In the end, unless anti-gun politicians succeed in cloaking
their views behind rhetoric, Americans who cherish their Second
Amendment freedoms will defeat them, as polling data confirms.
According to an ABC opinion poll 73 percent of Americans believe
the Second Amendment is an individual right, and according to a
Gallup poll, 146 million eligible voters live in households with
one or more firearms.
Yet more compelling, according to a Gallup poll, 33 million
Americans perceive themselves to be members of the NRA, yet only
about 4 million are actual members. For the sake of our
constitutional rights, these gun owners must become NRA members so
the NRA can inform them about critical issues and expose their
representatives' voting records. The time is now. Urge your family,
friends, neighbors and co-workers to visit www.insureyourgunrights.com
or www.nrahq.org to join NRA
today-your rights depend on it.