Welcome to FR. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm smelling ozone here....

mark

Why are many republicans even afraid to stand up for gun rights?

I believe you are referring to the phenomenon known as the "RINO."

A strange beast -- it lacks a spine, guts, and gonads.

Hhhhhmmmmmmmm. Veerry interesting. I may be wrong but I've got a funny feeling.

Sniff?

Your Question is why I call myself a "Liberarian".

I'm a "Bill of Rights" Republican, I register "Republican"; to Vote in that Party's Primaries. Libertarians don't have a Nebraska Primary.

My Wife, who has never owned a Gun, is an NRA Member. We have Good Neighbors, now. But when We retire, She wants ARMED Good Neighbors. We will retire to a "CCA State"!

Tain't PC, so by not being pro second amendment, the pubbies are sill waiting for the libs and their MSM cohort's to, really, really, love them.

Welcome to Free Republic!

I think you will find a happy home here among many that support our Second Amendment rights.

We gotta ask.. . what's in your arsenal?

Actually, it is Democrats who are deemphasizing guns as an issue and pretending to be pro-gun. They have realized that being anti-gun costs them. Even the press seems to be cooling it a bit on anti-gun agitation because it riles up the conservative base. Since Republicans control Congress and the White House and have a de facto alliance with pro-gun Democrats, Republicans do not need to make noise, only move the program along.

If you are not a member of the NRA join, even if you do not own a gun...join for $10.00 and preserve our freedom.

Answer to the Question:

Why Do Some Republicans Support Gun Control

By Michael D. Robbins, FraudFactor.com, June 2, 2005

It is absolutely certain that the Democrat party and politicians have been constantly attacking the Second Amendment and private firearms ownership by ordinary nonviolent citizens who do not commit crimes and do not have criminal intent. Banning and confiscating traditional firearms from the law abiding public is part of the Democrat agenda and platform.

The Republican party, other than some RINOs, does not have an anti-gun/anti-self-defense agenda or platform. The Republican party generally protects and votes against the dangerous Democrat-sponsored gun control laws that target and punish ordinary nonviolent citizens.

Thus, there is a huge difference between the Republicans and Democrats.

Vote Single Issue for Gun Rights

In fact, if you vote single-issue on gun rights you are almost always voting for the best candidate on the other important issues, including government and taxation, national defense, criminal justice and public safety, property rights, religious freedom, education, etc. Keep in mind that we have a two-party system and voting for a third party is almost always throwing your vote away or helping liberal (i.e., Socialist and Marxist) Democrats.

Also keep in mind that you are voting for the candidate's party as well as for the candidate, because the party leadership enforces party discipline and pressures their members into voting the party line on important votes where their votes are deciding votes. The party leadership may release members and allow them to vote in support of their constituency when their votes are not needed to form a majority. However, the votes that count will be voted in support of the party line. A failure to vote the party line may get party members booted off committees, resulting in office staff and budget cuts, as well as less campaign money in the next election.

Why the Democrat party supports gun control

Why do the Democrats support dangerous gun control laws that target, punish, and harass ordinary nonviolent citizens who have no criminal intent? Whey do the Democrats want to ban and confiscate privately owned firearms?

First and foremost, the Democrat party is using gun control to try to steal the crime issue away from the Republicans, and to claim that they are the real tough-on-crime party and the Republicans are soft-on-crime for not supporting their gun control laws.

The Democrat party has been the true liberal soft-on-crime party for many decades. They are more concerned about the welfare of violent criminals than of violent crime victims. Conversely, the Republicans have been the true tough-on-crime party, passing laws to target, punish, and restrain real criminals. The Democrats recognize that crime is one of the leading issues among voters and that they have been losing votes on this issue. Thus, they have used a well orchestrated strategy at all levels of government to integrate gun control into their campaign rhetoric and to pass increasingly restrictive gun control laws to bolster their false claims that they are tough-on-crime.

Why some Republicans support or fail to oppose gun control

Many Republican elected officials, candidates, and hired campaign strategists (i.e., political hacks) have been too incompetent to understand that the Democrats are using gun control to steal the crime issue from the Republicans. They also have been too incompetent to know how to preempt and counter this Democrat assault against Republicans and against America.

Campaign pollsters and strategists hired by Republican candidates typically advise the candidates to either support some gun control or avoid discussing the gun control issue altogether, or else they will lose votes.

This is dangerously incompetent advice. It fails to recognize that polls fail to measure intensity of feeling, or who will be involved in grass roots campaigns to support or defeat candidates. Also, typical opinion polls on gun control are fatally flawed and do not measure true public opinion.

It misses the opportunity to preempt the opposition with a strong and effective attack on the basis that gun control increases violent crime. And then it allows the Democrats to beat up on the Republicans without the Republicans even defending themselves.

Republicans who support gun control lose core constituency votes and cross-over voters

Also, Republicans who fail to publicly support the Second Amendment alienate core constituency voters and grass roots volunteers who stay home on election day or vote third party as a protest vote. They also alienate the crossover Democrat voters who are necessary to win many elections.

Those Republicans who publicly defend the Second Amendment often use a common but weak argument promoted by a national firearm owner organization. They argue that "gun control does not help and is just a feel-good law". This argument fails to get a majority to oppose gun control, because many people are willing to try more gun control if it might help and it can't hurt.

The winning campaign theme: "Gun control increases violent crime"

Instead, Republicans must argue the significantly more effective and well-supported position that "gun control increases violent crime and never reduces crime". This theme gets a majority to oppose gun control even in the more liberal parts of the country (yes, it has been tested in a real opinion poll). Under this theme, the default position is to oppose gun control unless it can be shown to be effective and not dangerous.

Republicans should also argue, as a secondary argument, that gun control is and always has been a racist and discriminatory policy, targeting minorities, the poor, women, the elderly, and the handicapped. This argument is well supported, and there are examples dating from 1640 to the Black Codes following the Civil War to the present. The first known "U.S." gun control law was passed in Georgia in 1640. It prohibited people of color from owning or possessing firearms.

Gun control also supports the overall leftist Democrat agenda

In addition to stealing the crime issue from the Republicans, the Democrat firearm confiscation agenda supports their overall agenda to seize more power from the citizens and move our nation incrementally toward the totalitarian state that these elitists view as their utopia.

Also, for Socialists and Marxists to change our existing democratic republic to their totalitarian state of "perfection", they must tear down our existing society including its institutions in order to build their replacement form of government and society. This is analogous to tearing down an existing building or structure in order to replace it with something entirely different and incompatible with the existing structure.

The last 25 years of scientific research shows that gun control increases violent crime. By increasing crime and chaos in our society, while rendering the citizens helpless and desperate, the Democrats can continue to use crime as an excuse to take away even more freedom and tax money from the people. Look at the red light camera systems and the police surveillance's cameras being installed in public places in cities controlled by Democrat party machines.

Another reason some politicians support gun control: Political Corruption

Some Democrats and RINO Republicans have supported gun control as part of a deal they cut with the Democrat party leadership. For example, in 1989, former California Governor (and RINO) George Deukmejian signed the Democrat-sponsored AB 357/SB292 (the Mike Roos/David Roberti ban on traditional firearms mislabeled as "assault weapons") as part of a deal. Willie Brown (Democrat Speaker of the Assembly) gave Deukmejian a spike in his pension, and the light rail transportation system that he wanted. AB 357 passed with a bare minimum majority of 41 out of 80 votes as I recall, with Steve Clute being a swing vote who was pressured to provide the needed last vote.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is best to vote single-issue in support of gun rights, whether or not you own a firearm. By doing this, you will be voting for the best candidates on most if not all of the important issues. This almost always means you will be voting Republican.

- FraudFactor.com

Support redistricting reform to end gerrymandering and achieve better government.

Welcome to Free Republic. The Assault Weapons Ban has been allowed to sunset but the libs are still at it, now trying to ban the 50 caliber.