LTTE "Gun rights also important issue" shows what Dems must overcome.

[jody]

QUOTE
Gun rights also important issue
After the election of George W. Bush to a second term, much credit was given to the religious right for their support.
I say Bush's victory was a combination of several factors, not the least of which was the total support of the president by hunters, gun owners and the National Rifle Association.
The Democratic Party has made no bones about opposing gun owners and the Second Amendment's right of citizens to keep and bear arms.
Some years ago a young lady witnessed the death of her parents at the hands of a crazed gunman in a restaurant in Killeen, Texas. She was helpless to intervene because her licensed handgun had been left in her car as required by Texas law. As a result she started a drive to get a concealed-carry firearm law passed in the Texas Legislature.
The bill passed both houses with no trouble, but was vetoed by then-Gov. Ann Richards, a Democrat.
At the next election Richards was handily defeated by George W. Bush, who quickly signed into law a revived right-to-carry amendment. The young lady who introduced the amendment was also elected to the Texas Legislature as a Republican.
J.M. Jones
Autaugaville
UNQUOTE

I will reply quoting the Dem Party Platform below and that Dubya supports the AWB but, the writer's anger and ignorance show how much damage a few gun-grabbers in political office have done to the Democratic Party in many states.

Democratic Party Platform 2004
QUOTE
We will protect Americans' Second Amendment right to own firearms, and we will keep guns out of the hands of criminals and terrorists by fighting gun crime, reauthorizing the assault weapons ban, and closing the gun show loophole, as President Bush proposed and failed to do.
UNQUOTE

[EDT]

1. Everytime I stop in a gun store and see a newbie getting his 1st

AR-15 or handgun being explained to him by the salesperson,
I think there's another person who is walking out of the
store with something tangible that will make them think
not twice, but five or six times before voting Democrat
ever again.

The problem is the antigun crowd is significant as well,
and has no home other than the Democratic party.

Though there are plenty here who own guns and vote Dem,
any Democratic candidate who decides on a pro-gun ownership
platform will be losing plenty of Dem votes, along with
gaining moderate voters.

It's a tough see-saw for a Dem candidate to balance on and get
any benefit from. Republicans know where gun owners are in
their voting base, and don't have that balancing act to try
and win vote-wise.

[Township75]

3. I once watched a CrossFire show, where Carville

stated that the Dems polls/analysis shows that those who support gun control are going to vote Dem regardless of whether the candidate pushes for it or not. As a result, it ends up being a net loss for the Dem candidate to go after gun controllers.

I don't agree with the tough see-saw act for Dems on this issue, unless they live in urban areas that have a strong support for gc. If the pro gc vote were significant enough that the Dems had to worry about it, 94 wouldn't have happened and the NRA would not be feared in DC...also, the Brady Campaign (or any gc lobby) would actually have some pull in DC.

I think your first paragraph is right on target. I think a stronger arguement can be made that the country is becoming more progun rights, as more states are becoming right to carry, more states are outlawing municipalities suing gun manufacturers, federal legislation regarding guns has been more favorable, and the AWB was left to die. Not too mention the cases regarding guns in the courts are getting tossed often. This is a problem for us when our candidates have voting records which dont respect gun ownership rights. I think Dean would have done way better than Kerry (and in fact mopped-up the floor with Bush) in the last election. One of the reasons, and a very big reason, would be that Dean has a pro gun record.

When we put up candidates with poor gun records, it is not going to go over well with people like those you refer too...not to mention sometimes their friends they introduce to shooting, or maybe a spouse/sig other.

[Krinkov]

4. dems hold the biggest urban areas

I don't agree with the tough see-saw act for Dems on this issue, unless they live in urban areas that have a strong support for gc.

take a look at the red/blue state map from this election--all that central red, and the little patches of blue on the coasts-- around LA and NYC. Dems hold the most populated urban areas and get most of their power from them.

[Mayday999]

2. If we had embraced the 2nd Amendment...

I think Reagan would have been the last Rep. President. I really don't know how many more elections we have to lose in order to understand this.

[Postmanx]

5. Bush 41 lost the pro-gun vote

After his '89 import ban. That cost him re-election. With the pro-gun vote, he easily would have overcome Perot's candidacy.

Quite a few pro-gun folks thought there was no way a Governor from Arkansas was going to screw them they way Bush 41 did.

Of course, they were wrong.