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Primary Elections
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"...[Rendell] clearly chose to
distance himself from the anti-gun agenda of HCI..." |
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Sen. Hutchinson (R-Ark) |
Rep. Murtha (D-Pa) |
Primary Election Results...
On Tuesday, voters in Arkansas's Republican primary chose
U.S. Senator Tim Hutchinson as the Republican
Party's candidate for the U.S. Senate
in the November election. Senator Hutchinson, who received the NRA
Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) endorsement in this primary race,
defeated his opponent by a margin greater than 3-to-1.
In Pennsylvania,
U.S. Representative John Murtha easily defeated fellow
Representative Frank Mascara in Tuesday's Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 12th
Congressional District. Mascara chose to run against Murtha - who
received the NRA-PVF endorsement in this primary - after redistricting
effectively eliminated Pennsylvania's 20th Congressional District, which
Mascara currently serves as Congressman.
Also in Pennsylvania, former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell defeated
Pennsylvania's Auditor General Bob Casey, Jr., in the Democratic
gubernatorial primary. Although no official endorsement was made in
this race, NRA opposed Rendell because of his history of supporting the
anti-gun agenda. In 1998, Rendell became one of the pioneers of the
reckless lawsuit campaign when he began publicly exploring the idea of
launching a baseless lawsuit against law-abiding members of the firearms
industry. This strategy soon became extremely popular among Rendell's
fellow anti-gun big city mayors. And while HCI has hailed Rendell's
successful campaign as "a victory for gun control, and a defeat for the
National Rifle Association," it is more accurately described as an
example of an extremely deceptive campaign.
Michael Barnes, president of the gun-ban lobby, claimed on Wednesday,
"Ed Rendell is to be commended for having the 'courage of his
convictions,'" and proclaimed, "Ed never wavered in his support...."
But during his campaign, Rendell repeatedly claimed, "I support the
Second Amendment and the rights of hunters, and I will not take away the
guns owned by law-abiding citizens." Whether or not Rendell will
actually stand by this statement is doubtful, but he clearly chose to
distance himself from the anti-gun agenda of HCI.
Furthermore, the Rendell campaign did everything it could to create the
false impression that NRA supports his efforts, while saying little
about the gun-ban agenda. After Rendell's anti-gun views began to
become a major topic of discussion late in the campaign, the former
Philadelphia Mayor sent out a statewide mailing intended to create the
false impression he is not anti-gun. He even went so far as to include
in his mailing a reprint of a full-page ad NRA placed in The Washington
Post in January of 1999.
But the three-year-old ad merely thanked Rendell for finally taking up
our challenge "to make Philadelphia a model city for Project Exile," the
proven crime-fighting prosecution model that targets violent gun crimes
rather than law-abiding gun owners. Moreover, it took Rendell nearly a
year to accept our challenge, and then only after it became clear the
general public widely embraced such programs over the gun-ban lobby's
anti-freedom agenda. Rendell's seemingly reluctant adoption of this
NRA-promoted crime fighting tool also came after a number of other
anti-gun big city mayors followed his lead by filing their own reckless
lawsuits designed to cripple law-abiding gun makers.
Rendell's claim to support the rights of hunters rings rather hollow
when one looks over "The Rendell Plan to Conserve and Protect
Pennsylvania's Environment." While a conservation plan would seem to be
an appropriate place to promote hunting - as hunters are, of course, the
first real conservationists - nowhere in the document is hunting even
vaguely mentioned.
Ultimately, Rendell was able to deceive the voters in Pennsylvania's
Democratic primary into believing he supports law-abiding gun owners and
hunters, and now HCI ironically wishes to deceive people into believing
his victory was some sort of validation of the lobby's gun-ban agenda.
...and Information in the Next Round of Primary Elections
Idaho
and
Kentucky
will hold primary elections this Tuesday, May 28.
NRA members in these states should have already received information on
candidates endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund for the primary
election, so please be sure to go to the polls and support pro-gun
candidates for office, and encourage your family, friends, and fellow
firearm owners to do the same. NRA members in these states who have not
received this information can call the NRA-ILA Grassroots Division at
(800) 392-8683.
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