http://www.sungazette.com/letters/letter_details.asp?letterID=3074&postdate=10/30/2004
Hunting season has just started, but this long presidential campaign has covered a lot of ground, from Iraq to stem cells. But what is missing? My fellow hunters, gun owners and sportsmen, it is gun control.
Democrats know — Bill Clinton told them — that Al Gore’s strong support for more gun controls cost him the 2000 election. They don’t want a repeat this time, especially since so many of the battleground states, such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin are states where outdoor traditions run high.
Enter now the big lie: cast Kerry and Edwards as long-time hunters, defenders of the Second Amendment and in favor of only “responsible” gun restrictions and the closing of “loopholes” in present laws.
Let’s look at Mr. Kerry’s record — one from which he cannot hide no matter which duck blind he hunkers down in:
1. He has voted yes on every gun control bill over the last 20 years — a total of over 50.
2. He is praised and supported 100 percent by anti-gun groups such as Handgun Control Inc. (the Brady Bunch), National Coalition to Ban Handguns and Americans for Gun Safety.
3. He is a co-sponsor of S-1431, which would ban ownership of “any firearm” that has been “procured” for the military or federal law enforcement.
4. In March of this year, Kerry and Edwards made their first votes of the year in the Senate, leaving their campaigns to fly to D.C. and vote to kill a bill stopping predatory lawsuits against gun manufacturers.
5. When Kerry voted to kill the firearms industry lawsuit reform bill, he said: “I believe strongly in the Second Amendment. I believe in the right to bear arms as it has been interpreted in our country.” Note that he does not say “keep and bear arms” as written in the Constitution.
6. He has condemned the fact that the “assault weapons” ban was allowed to expire.
It’s pathetic to watch them say they are something they aren’t.
James Stuchell
Williamsport