NRA Bush Endorsement Not Certain

NewsMax ^ | 8/10/04 | Dave Eberhart

[Atlas Sneezed]

If the president supports the assault gun ban renewal, it could be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back.

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He has said repeatedly that he DOES support it. The question is whether he SIGNS it.

Simply put, Bush is no friend of gunowners, The question is whether he is an enemy, like Kerry.

[Ichneumon]

But it still begs the question, why no endorsement of Bush 41 in 1992

Because Bush 41 proudly signed the first "assault weapon" ban, which prohibited the importation of "assault weapons".

[kcar]

If he's an enemy, 50 days jack-booted federal enforced Media silence won't be enough: his Presidency will end here. I think he's way smarter than that, but I like the NRA standing aloof awhile longer...

[Ichneumon]

Go ahead, support Kerry, NRA guys. Get Kerry elected.

Not endorsing Bush is not the same as supporting Kerry.

If they don't support Bush, and Kerry wins, I will personally send them an e-mail reading "You helped give us this jerk, so shut the *&^$& up" every time the NRA complains about Kerry.

If Bush signs the "assault weapon" renewal, he'll have no one to blame for his loss but himself. Don't try to pin that on the NRA. If that occurs, I'll send *Bush* an email reading, "way to go, RINO".

[Hat-Trick]

For his part, John Kerry certainly hasn't given Bush a pass on his inaction: "We all know Bush and Cheney have broken their promises on Iraq and the economy," he said recently, "but most voters don't know that they are standing against major police organizations and breaking their promise to renew the assault weapons ban – which helps keep military-style assault weapons out of the hands of criminals and terrorists."

Hmmmm.....So John "I was sent into Cambodia" Kerry thinks I'm either a criminal or a terrorist because I want to own a "military-style assault weapon". That crap won't play west of the Hudson and east of Tahoe.

[Ichneumon]

There will be no further membership in the NRA if they do not endorse the President.

If Bush signs that AW ban renewal, and the NRA refuses to endorse him because of it, I'll SIGN UP for NRA membership.

[The Wizard]

if the NRA sits on it's hands on this election, I won't be renewing

[Ichneumon]

He has said repeatedly that he DOES support it. The question is whether he SIGNS it. Simply put, Bush is no friend of gunowners

Actually, I think that remains to be seen. The "I'll sign it if it reaches my desk" statements may just be political strategery, and if so I don't hold it against him at all. Deeds, not words, are what truly matter on this issue.

The question is whether he is an enemy, like Kerry.

When Ann Richards was Governor of Texas, she vetoed a concealed carry bill that the state legistlature had passed (at that time, Texas had not allowed concealed carry -- or even open carry -- of handguns by citizens for over 100 years).

When George W. Bush was elected Governor as her replacement (many think Richards lost re-election due to this issue), *after* he had won the election (thus it was no empty promise just to curry votes), and before the legislature was even back in session, he boldly and publicly stated that if the legislature would pass the concealed carry law again, he would sign it.

They did, and he did. Texas is now one of the many proud concealed-carry states, thanks to W.

So it's unfair to say that he is no friend of gunowners" -- at least once, he was a true friend indeed.

[Teplukin]

If Bush signs the "assault weapon" renewal, he'll have no one to blame for his loss but himself. Don't try to pin that on the NRA. If that occurs, I'll send *Bush* an email reading, "way to go, RINO".

Ah, sometimes I think keeping the NRA happy is more trouble that it is worth. I regard them as just another single interest lobby which cares only about parochial interests - and which may or may not parallel those of the United States.

Regardless of what the President does vis a vis assualt weapons, they should support him. This "conditional loyalty" business is nonsense.

[Ichneumon]

Recently on "The Charlie Rose Show," Bill Clinton explained why Al Gore lost in the former president's home state: "I'll tell you exactly what happened in Arkansas. ... The NRA beat him in Arkansas." Guns played a major role in securing Bush victories not only in Arkansas but also in West Virginia, Tennessee, Florida and New Hampshire. At last year's NRA convention, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told members, "If it were not for your active involvement, it is safe to say that my brother would not have been elected president."

It's important to remember how key the NRA (and politically-motivated gun owners in general) were to the landmark elections of 1994 which returned congressional control to the Republicans for the first time in decades:

      "The NRA is the reason the Republicans control
      the House. The fights that I fought, bloody though they were, cost
      a lot. The fight for the assault-weapons ban cost 20 [Democratic]
      members their seats in Congress."
                                   President Bill Clinton

         I don't want to destroy the good atmosphere in the room
      or in the country tonight, but I have to mention one issue
      that divided this body greatly last year.
         The last Congress also passed the Brady bill and, in the
      crime bill, the ban on 19 assault weapons. I don't think
      it's a secret to anybody in this room that several members
      of the last Congress who voted for that aren't here tonight
      because they voted for it.
                                   President Bill Clinton

            "As candidates who backed gun control legislation fell one by
     one across the nation Tuesday night, the National Rifle Association
     re-emerged as a high caliber political force that politicians cross
     at their own peril," reported The Hill on Nov. 10, 1994.

      An astonishing 25% of all voters voted primarily on the gun issue.
                                 Connie Chung, CBS News, November 10.

     "Exit poll show data showed that more than a third of all voters who cast
     ballots Tuesday said they supported the National Rifle Association -- and
     two-thirds of those voters cast their ballots for Republican candidates."
                        Washington Post, November 10, p. A33

    25% of all voters, nationwide, identified themselves as NRA or sympathetic
    to the NRA in exit poll interviews.  25% said the only reason they came out
    was to vote against gun control.
                              Dianne Feinstein campaign HQ

     35% of the voters had a positive impression of the NRA and went
     overwhelmingly Republican.
                         MacNeil-Lehrer Report, November 10.

            "The National Rifle Association...rebounded with a vengeance
     Tuesday (Nov. 8th) when at least a dozen of the gun-control
     supporters in Congress it had targeted were defeated by candidates
     who oppose weapons restrictions," reported Hearst News Service in
     the Portland Oregonian (11/10/94).

            "They [NRA members and gun owners] alone may have well made
     the difference in this election," said Sen. Harris Wofford
     reflecting on his loss to Rick Santorum in the Pennsylvania U.S.
     Senate race (AP, 11/12/94).

President Bush, please do the right thing. Don't p**s off us gun owners. You wouldn't like us when we're angry.

[kcar]

I think it's just strategery myself. I am planning to vote for W and, as noted by another freeper and as a subscriber to Freedom, I expect the NRA will too, barring any 9-13th surprise.

[Soul Seeker]

This is an amusing political game the NRA/G.W. & Congress are playing.

Bush says he'll sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

He means what he says.

It hasn't reached his desk.

If Bush wanted to sign this bill he'd campaign for it the way he did the tax cuts. I don't believe he wants to sign it but he doesn't want to take the hit of a veto either.

It's in the hands of Congress. The question is whether Frist will finally exercise his leadership to prevent the renewal of the ban from coming up for a vote. We'll know in less than a month.

For the record nothing would please me more than to have Congress finally reveal it is good for something by preventing this ban from continuing.

[The_Macallan]

tagged.

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It's Not Just A Gun...

It's My "HOMELAND DEFENSE RIFLE"!!

[Ichneumon]

Ah, sometimes I think keeping the NRA happy is more trouble that it is worth. I regard them as just another single interest lobby which cares only about parochial interests - and which may or may not parallel those of the United States. Regardless of what the President does vis a vis assualt weapons, they should support him. This "conditional loyalty" business is nonsense.

I'll bet five bucks that if you list your political positions, we'll be able to find several that would cause you to refuse to support a candidate if he violated them. Abortion, maybe? Respect for Christianity? Appeasement of terrorism? Support of Israel? There are many possibilities.

Let us know, so that we can start ridiculing you for being a part of a "single interest lobby which cares only about parochial interests", and engaging in "nonsense" like "conditional loyalty".

[Always A Marine]

If Bush signs the "assault weapon" renewal, he'll have no one to blame for his loss but himself. Don't try to pin that on the NRA.

Amen! I'm glad the NRA has stopped pussy-footing and is holding Republicans accountable again. Dubya would be a fool to take gunowners for granted -- like his father did in 1992. More than just their votes, Bush desperately needs their energy and activism for his reelection. If he foolishly goes RINO on "assault" weapons and blows the race, Dubya will have only himself to blame. We'll soon see...

[Ichneumon]

He means what he says. It hasn't reached his desk. If Bush wanted to sign this bill he'd campaign for it the way he did the tax cuts. I don't believe he wants to sign it but he doesn't want to take the hit of a veto either.

But remember, that strategy backfired on the campaign finance reform bill. It *did* reach his desk.

[sarasota]

I've heard so many "independents" speak to their being on the fence until the convention/debates. Tommy Franks, for one and we know he's pro-Bush. The NRA will endorse him, they're just giving Kerry and chance to be heard. And hopefully they will lambast his position(s) in the end.

[AndrewC]

Hopefully

Well, the latest funds requests sure makes it sound as if we are not going to endorse Kerry.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

Wayne LaPierre had effusive praise for incumbent Bush, telling his readership that the president stood squarely in the shoes of Ronald Reagan, the AR-15 automatic rifle owner who on May 9, 1983, was named an Honorary Life Member

PRESIDENT REAGAN OWNED AN AR15?!?!?!

Unless I am reading the article incorrectly, this is a completely new side to my understanding of Pres. Reagan. Please, somebody tell me they have a picture!

[Zack Nguyen]

"Although a push from President Bush would get a renewal before lawmakers – a majority of whom would probably approve it – the president, who supports the renewal of the ban, has been thunderously silent."

I agree. They're holding Bush to a standard they would never hold a Democrat. I agree that Bush doesn't really want to see the bill on his desk, but for them to make the above statement as a fact is terribly irresponsible.