Ithaca 37
New member
Hey BHR, Take a look at who else besides you is happy Dean got beat in Iowa!
"Gun-control lobby buoyed by Howard Dean’s stumble
By Bob Cusack
Gun-control advocates say they’re delighted that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s run for the White House took a major step backward in Iowa.
Lobbyists for tougher federal gun laws have been dreading a Dean nomination.
Political experts have labeled Dean a liberal on some issues but pointed out that his stance on gun control is similar to that of President Bush.
Chris McGrath of Handgun-Free America said that over the last couple of months there has been a lot of discussion about a Dean versus Bush match-up.
Before the Iowa caucuses, McGrath said of a Bush-Dean general election, “Dean is probably the lesser of two evils because Dean wouldn’t have John Ashcroft as his attorney general.”
McGrath noted yesterday that his group does not endorse politicians but said, “Personally, I’d rather have a candidate who is strong on gun control. Dean is clearly not a gun control champion.”
Sarah Brady, chairman of the Brady Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, has criticized Dean publicly over the last couple of months. In November, Brady said a Dean comment — that the issue of guns crossing state borders had been resolved — was “totally untrue and totally unsupportable.”
Last month, at the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Brady gun law, she made a point of telling the audience that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) sent a letter to her group supporting “all we are doing.”
Peter Hamm, spokesman for Brady’s association, said, “Sarah has not been supportive of Dean’s candidacy because he has chosen to run to the right of the Democratic Party on gun issues.”
If Dean wins the Democratic nomination, he might get the votes of the gun control movement but “they won’t be stuffing envelopes,” Hamm said.
One of the major problems the gun-control movement has with Dean is that he believes states should be left to decide gun policies.
Blaine Rummel of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence said gun control — like healthcare — is a national problem. He added that “gun trafficking is a huge problem” that can be adequately addressed only through a federal solution.
But even though gun control groups have criticized Dean, some gun rights advocates said they never were sold on him.
Larry Pratt, executive director of the Gun Owners of America (GOA), said Dean changed his position on whether the federal assault-weapon ban should be renewed. Dean supports extending the ban, as does Bush.
Another gun rights lobbyist said some of Dean’s public comments on guns “has not sat too well with our members.”
GOP congressional leaders have not indicated that they will schedule a floor vote on the ban, which expires in September.
Pratt said that as governor, Dean was supportive of Second Amendment rights. “But as we watched him as a candidate for president, we’ve realized we don’t have a horse in that race” for the Democratic presidential nominee.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) endorsed Dean as governor, but the NRA’s backing does not transfer automatically when a candidate seeks another office.
NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam lambasted politicians running for office “who have appalling voting records” yet hold hunting-related photo-ops. Kerry recently held such a press event in October where he said, “I don’t want to be the candidate of the NRA. I don’t want our party to be the party of the NRA.”
Pratt said the GOA has given Kerry and Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) “F’s” for their voting records.
The NRA and GOA are not pleased that Bush supports extending the federal assault weapon ban.
Pratt said, “He basically told us to ‘shove it’ by announcing that decision. It’s bad policy and bad politics.” Still, gun-rights lobbyists are expected to back Bush in November.
On Dec. 12, Bush met with NRA representatives at the White House “to discuss issues of concern to hunters and sportsmen,” an NRA release said.
After the meeting, David Lehman of the NRA’s Institute for Legal Action, said, “It is refreshing to see a president and an administration that supports America’s sportsmen and actively works to increase hunting opportunities and hunter access to federal lands.”
http://www.hillnews.com/business/012104_gun.aspx
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-31-2004 22:29: Message edited by: Ithaca 37 ]</font>
"Gun-control lobby buoyed by Howard Dean’s stumble
By Bob Cusack
Gun-control advocates say they’re delighted that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s run for the White House took a major step backward in Iowa.
Lobbyists for tougher federal gun laws have been dreading a Dean nomination.
Political experts have labeled Dean a liberal on some issues but pointed out that his stance on gun control is similar to that of President Bush.
Chris McGrath of Handgun-Free America said that over the last couple of months there has been a lot of discussion about a Dean versus Bush match-up.
Before the Iowa caucuses, McGrath said of a Bush-Dean general election, “Dean is probably the lesser of two evils because Dean wouldn’t have John Ashcroft as his attorney general.”
McGrath noted yesterday that his group does not endorse politicians but said, “Personally, I’d rather have a candidate who is strong on gun control. Dean is clearly not a gun control champion.”
Sarah Brady, chairman of the Brady Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, has criticized Dean publicly over the last couple of months. In November, Brady said a Dean comment — that the issue of guns crossing state borders had been resolved — was “totally untrue and totally unsupportable.”
Last month, at the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Brady gun law, she made a point of telling the audience that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) sent a letter to her group supporting “all we are doing.”
Peter Hamm, spokesman for Brady’s association, said, “Sarah has not been supportive of Dean’s candidacy because he has chosen to run to the right of the Democratic Party on gun issues.”
If Dean wins the Democratic nomination, he might get the votes of the gun control movement but “they won’t be stuffing envelopes,” Hamm said.
One of the major problems the gun-control movement has with Dean is that he believes states should be left to decide gun policies.
Blaine Rummel of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence said gun control — like healthcare — is a national problem. He added that “gun trafficking is a huge problem” that can be adequately addressed only through a federal solution.
But even though gun control groups have criticized Dean, some gun rights advocates said they never were sold on him.
Larry Pratt, executive director of the Gun Owners of America (GOA), said Dean changed his position on whether the federal assault-weapon ban should be renewed. Dean supports extending the ban, as does Bush.
Another gun rights lobbyist said some of Dean’s public comments on guns “has not sat too well with our members.”
GOP congressional leaders have not indicated that they will schedule a floor vote on the ban, which expires in September.
Pratt said that as governor, Dean was supportive of Second Amendment rights. “But as we watched him as a candidate for president, we’ve realized we don’t have a horse in that race” for the Democratic presidential nominee.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) endorsed Dean as governor, but the NRA’s backing does not transfer automatically when a candidate seeks another office.
NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam lambasted politicians running for office “who have appalling voting records” yet hold hunting-related photo-ops. Kerry recently held such a press event in October where he said, “I don’t want to be the candidate of the NRA. I don’t want our party to be the party of the NRA.”
Pratt said the GOA has given Kerry and Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) “F’s” for their voting records.
The NRA and GOA are not pleased that Bush supports extending the federal assault weapon ban.
Pratt said, “He basically told us to ‘shove it’ by announcing that decision. It’s bad policy and bad politics.” Still, gun-rights lobbyists are expected to back Bush in November.
On Dec. 12, Bush met with NRA representatives at the White House “to discuss issues of concern to hunters and sportsmen,” an NRA release said.
After the meeting, David Lehman of the NRA’s Institute for Legal Action, said, “It is refreshing to see a president and an administration that supports America’s sportsmen and actively works to increase hunting opportunities and hunter access to federal lands.”
http://www.hillnews.com/business/012104_gun.aspx
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-31-2004 22:29: Message edited by: Ithaca 37 ]</font>
