It was hilarious. Chuck the Schmuck was a congressthing back then, and ranting about “gun control” pretty much 24/7.
When Chuckie went to run against Al D’amato, Al called Chuckie ‘congressman putzhead ‘. They parlayed that into fodder and ousted ‘Senator Pothole’ despite Al’s economic benefits for the state of NY. (Al was and is a RINO...but the best one can expect from NY)