Chasing the Wind

John Kerry took some flap yesterday when he received a gun at the United Mine Workers Labor Day. Kerry then made the very unpresidential-like offer to shoot President Bush by saying, “”I thank you for the gift, but I can’t take it to the debate with me.”

Drudge reported that the gun was a Browning Auto-5 that would have been banned under a Kerry sponsored bill S.1431 outlawing semi-automatic handguns with “pistol grips.”

That was countered by Common Dreams, a gun-control group, that identified the gun as a Remington 1100 Sporting 12 that would *not* have been banned. Then that was countered by the National Shooting Sports Foundation that called it a Remington 11-87 shotgun that would have been banned.

Remington President Tommy Milner said, “Rest assured, Remington was neither aware of this presentation in advance nor in any way supportive of its intent to support Senator Kerry’s candidacy. In fact, the company remains amused by ongoing photos of Senator Kerry shooting without either ear or eye protection while discharging a firearm.”

Whew. I’m not a gun expert; I don’t know what model of gun that is or whether it would have been banned. But what’s the real question here? Is it whether or not John Kerry is pro-gun / pro-Second Amendment? I think that’s the real issue, and given John Kerry’s voting record on gun control, Kerry ought to lay low and hope this blows over. But oops, they couldn’t leave well enough alone and issued this press release today:

“Let’s do some straight shooting on the gun issue. John Kerry’s opponents are worried because he’s the first Democratic candidate to support Second Amendment gun rights and to be an avid hunter.

“The facts are clear. John Kerry opposes banning this gun and always will.”

Really, John? You support Second Amendment gun rights? Let’s take a look at your record via Pamibe:

FACT: Kerry has voted nine times in favor of banning semi-automatic firearms. 1

FACT: Kerry has voted to ban most center-fire rifle ammunition, including the most common rounds used by hunters and target shooters. 2

FACT: Kerry has voted to close off hundreds of thousands of acres of the California Mojave Desert to hunting. 3

FACT: Kerry has voted to hold the highly regulated American firearms industry legally responsible for the illegal acts of violent criminals. 4

FACT: Kerry was one of only 15 Senators to oppose the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act, which ended alarming abuses being committed under the 1968 Gun Control Act. 5

FACT: Kerry was one of only 29 Senators to vote to prohibit gun manufacturers from discharging debts created by the reckless lawsuits filed by municipalities. 6

FACT: Kerry has voted to allow BATF to conduct unlimited, warrant-less inspections of FFL holders. 7

FACT: Kerry has voted to criminalize legal sales between private individuals at gun shows. 8

FACT: Kerry has voted against increasing mandatory minimum and maximum penalties for the illegal transfer or use of a firearm. And yet he has also voted to impose penalties of a year in prison and a $10,000 fine on an adult if a juvenile steals a firearm from him, and then merely displays it in a public place. 9

FACT: Kerry has voted to force many small firearms dealers out of business, which would have impacted both the availability and price of guns, particularly in rural areas. 10

FACT: Kerry has voted 11 times to force law-abiding citizens to wait to exercise their Second Amendment rights. He voted to keep the federal waiting period after the National Instant Check System was in place. 11

FACT: Kerry voted twice to eliminate the Civilian Marksmanship Program. 12

FACT: Kerry wants to silence gun owners’ voice. When NRA sought the same exemption from campaign finance rules that news organizations have, Kerry called that effort “hijacking America’s airwaves.” 13

FACT: Kerry commended the Million Mom March for their march on Washington that included calls for gun owner licensing, gun registration and other restrictions on law-abiding gun owners. 14

FACT: Kerry twice supported legislation that would have mandated the inclusion of trigger locks with any handgun sale, forcing individual gun buyers to purchase products they did not necessarily want or need. 15

FACT: If elected president, Kerry will pack the U.S. Supreme Court with Dianne Feinstein/Chuck Schumer/Ted Kennedy-selected anti-gun activists who believe you have no right to own any firearm.

FACT: Senator John Kerry has a 100% voting record with the Brady Campaign (formerly Handgun Control Inc.), a national gun-ban group.

Pamibe also lists all the votes against the Second Amendment by vote number and the days he voted. A total of 40 votes from 1985 to 2004, all restricting the use and ownership of firearms.

I don’t know what Kerry is trying to do – alienate his gun control constituents, perhaps. He’s certainly not fooling anybody that he’s a supporter of the Second Amendment.