The National Rifle Association has once again confirmed it will not be issuing an endorsement in the Nevada U.S. Senate race. Interviewed by National Review Online's Jim Geraghty, Institute for Legislative Action executive director Chris Cox had this to say when asked about the decision to not endorse anyone:
We are a non-partisan organization, and we don’t base any grade or any endorsement on a party affiliation. That’s how we have continued to succeed, by solely considering how a candidate stands on the Second Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms. We send out candidate questionnaires to every candidate, and we look at public statements and the things they say in debates. We focus solely on the right to keep and bear arms, because that’s our issue.
Because Harry Reid is the Majority Leader, this is arguably the most important Senate race in the 2010 election, featuring two candidates who are both appealing to gun owners for support. Plus it's close--a real nail-biter.
And the 800-Lb. gorilla is sitting this one out.
That NRA will not consider issues outside of the Second Amendment is something those of us who disagree with their refusal to make an endorsement understand. We also understand that NRA should never allow itself to be considered a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Republican Party.
So shall we examine Mr. Cox's sole focus?
Where, according to NRA, do candidates Harry Reid and Sharron Angle "stand on the Second Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms"? After all, Mr. Cox goes on to say:
We encourage our members to put it in the forefront of their decision-making, and that’s proven to be a very effective, a very fair, and credible way for NRA to be positioned to help the rights of our members.
The last grade we have from NRA for the candidates is from six years ago. Angle got an "A" and Reid got a "B."
Will NRA tell us how they have currently been graded, so we can take that information and "put it in the forefront of [our] decision-making"? How else would we be able to?
And if they do, will they also explain how they derived the grades if asked for details?
How will not doing either "encourage" us? How will taking no position "position [them] to help [our] rights"?
The NRA Political Victory Fund "Upcoming Elections" page has been put in "pending" mode, awaiting the beginning of October when grades and endorsements for 2010 will be revealed (beyond the ones already disclosed--and why some but not all have been merits another series of questions).
What will we see on Friday when we click on Nevada? Will NRA release their grades for Reid and Angle?
Will we know by the end of this week?
Also see:
"Fear of Schumer in Reid-Angle race is a cop-out"
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Comments
Reid's handling of the Sotomayor and Kagan nominations should make it simple for Nevada's gun owners to decide. NRA's grades and that brand new shooting facility in Nevda would become completely irrelevant if those two ever get the chance to "flip" the 5/4 decisions on Heller and McDonald the other way.
I have no respect for anyone who allows Obama, Reid, Pelosi, their labor union, or spouse tell them how to vote.
Likewise for anyone who lets Wayne Lapierre or Chris Cox do the same.
It's your vote, Folks! The founders and many others gave their blood to buy it for you. Your creator gave you the brains to figure out what to do with it! Don't let them down!
DDS -- NRA Life member
former life member, i mailed nra my cut up membership.
at gun show sat i bitched them out and carried a sign about their support of reid that a lot of
gunners read carefully. so be tough,let them hurt. nra does not care about us
im out
I got a solicitation two weeks ago with a "$400 check" enclosed if I would become a life member. I mailed the check back to them with "ENDORSE SHARRON ANGLE" written on it in fat marker. Postage free.
Good move, Henry! I did something similar with their offer to upgrade mine to Benefactor and with a more recent letter from Mr. Lapierre going on about NRA needing my help to defend liberty. I asked him how much of my money he had sent to the senator that guided Holder, Sotomayor and Kagan through the "advise and consent" process in the Senate. I'm not holding my breath for anything more than a form letter in response. Mr. Lapierre better not be holding his breath waiting for more money from me.
This is Robert- In my personal opinion the NRA's refusal to issue grades on Reid/Angle says more about how wrong the organization has become that right when it comes to protecting gun owner's rights. Why is the NRA afraid of from Harry Reid? Are they sitting this one out because they are afraid he will seek revenge and tell all if he loses this election due to their grades? What does he have to tell? Will he seek revenge if he wins and they did not back him? DDS is right in that gun owners and non-gun owners should look at their candidates and make an independent choice but what the NRA is doing is backing Reid even though they are not saying it. We have the Heller and Mc Donald victories in spite of Reid when he allowed Sotomayor and Kagan to sit on the highest court in the land without any more of a fight or investigation. Harry Reid in my personal opinion put his own well being and future politicial connections before the rights/sovereignty of the American people. So did the NRA. Send the NRA and Reid a message along with the White House by booting Harry Reid out of office. If I was a betting man I would bet he would find a new home in the Obama administration before they cleared out his office this November? Nevada is the silver state and 2000 years ago another man liked his silver as well.
Unfortunately, they already endorsed McCain and Reid in articles...I am done with the NRA - except for stupid certs I have to have they will NOT get another dime of my money.
GOA all the way!
Please provide links to any article in which they already endorsed Reid!
What are you talking about? "they already endorsed McCain and Reid "?? I keep finding these:
"In a recent statement, the National Rifle Association has made it official. Despite Reid's recent record of carrying the NRA's water on Capitol Hill, the gun lobby will not endorse the Majority Leader for reelection against his Tea Party Republican challenger, Sharron Angle."
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/lesson-learned-nra-won-t-endorse-sen-harr...
"The powerful Nevada Democrat is reeling from the shock of not getting the gun group's important endorsement in his uphill re-election bid. NRA decision-makers had to have some ice in the veins to make this call because Mr. Reid is no slouch on gun rights. "
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/sep/2/nra-mans-up-to-harry-reid/
"The National Rifle Association announced Friday that it won’t be endorsing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) for re-election this November."
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/08/27/for-reid-no-nra-endorsement/
These are all over a month old, they are hardly 'breaking news' that you guys should have missed.
What do you mean what am I talking about? I asked if you had evidence that they OFFICIALLY endorsed him, or any statement that implicitly endorses him over her. All you've provided is what we already knew: That they refuse to officially endorse anyone in the race.
RH--that was Jesse who said that, not "Graverober"--he was challenging that statement, not yours. If I may -presume to speak for Jesse, I believe he was implying the current situation of no official endorsement but testimonials in newspapers ("a true champion of the Second Amendment") with a hefty contribution, followed by silence on Angle, is practically indistinguishable from an endorsement to a lot of gun owner voters who don't necessarily follow the details in columns like this one. They know NRA showed up at the shooting park and gave the guy kudos. That's the impression that will stay with many.
Of course, I agree with that assessment. The NRA is constructively endorsing Reid. Doing everything they can do to re-elect him short of lighting their membership list on fire. I was just curious if he had something more direct.
Harry Reid voted for EVERY one of Obama's anti-gun nominations: Erik Holder, Harold Koh, Sonia Sotomayor, Cass Sunstein, Richard Hamilton, Elena Kagan. Plus he voted for anti-gun ObamaCare and Veterans Disarmament. Far as I can figure he's either overtly or passive-aggressively supported every or nearly every anti-gun vote since O became Pres.
Not one of these noms would've been confirmed or laws passed if Majority Leader Reid actually supported gun rights.
How the can they let him keep his phony "B" rating, unless perhaps they WANTED him to vote that way? Truth is, NRA didn't lift a finger to stop any of these confirmations and laws. They sent clear smoke signals that Senators would not be downgraded for confirming them. NRA only took an official show position against Kagan purely for plausible deniability, long after the fix was in and the train had left the station and had accelerated to 90mph. They did nothing for weeks after "A" rated South Carolina "Republican" Lindsey "Gomer" Gaham slobbered all over her in the hearings.
Or their grading criteria has nothing to do with 2A and everything to do with other priorities, "access" for lobbyists, personal quid pro quo, secretly promoting the interests of OTHER special interest groups or secret societies contrary to the interest of the 2A community?
NRA's grades and support are not based on 2A criteria. What are they based on, and why?
According to their recruiter at a local show, "It's based on the questionnaire. Maybe she (Angle) didn't fill out the questionnaire?"
Idiot.
DD
She's A rated and strongly endorsed by GOA. You think she'd fill out the GOA questionnaire and not the NRA one?
There's no maybe about YOU being an idiot.
Second Anon--As I read DD's comment, he is quoting the recruiter's reply to his question and then offering his opinion of that person. He's not saying he believes it, he's saying he doesn't.
Can we can the anonymous name-calling, please?
My apologies. Misunderstood, and understood.
The NRA wants to play both ends against the middle. They are afraid Reid will hose them if he wins and they endorse Angle. Angle doesn't get endorsed and wins, she is no threat to them. The NRA has no external gonads. They do however have a very large yeast infection. Why anyone would be a member with this bunch is beyond me.
Reid already hoses the 2nd Amendment on nearly every vote, so they can't be worried about THAT. They may be worried about Reid hosing them personally on the interests they really represent. Or La Pierre!, Cox & Larry Craig may be taking care of their own secret Log Cabin society and worried about Reid NOT hosing them anymore.
I'm not sure - but I may have seen this GOA link here in another article - 43 anti-gun votes ...
http://gunowners.org/is-harry-reid-pro-gun-or-anti-gun.htm
Is Harry Reid pro-gun or anti-gun?
--You decide
Nevada Senator Harry Reid claims to be a defender of the Second Amendment. Is that really the case? You decide. Here is a list of votes he has cast over the past twenty years in the U.S. Senate:
1. June 28, 1991 - Voted for a 5 day waiting period for handgun purchases (Vote No. 115).
2. November 19, 1993 - Voted to eliminate the five-year sunset in the Brady Bill's five day waiting period, which would have made the waiting period permanent (Vote No. 386).
3. November 19, 1993 - Voted to end a filibuster led by pro-gun Senators against the Brady Bill (Vote No. 387).
4. November 20, 1993 - Voted for the Brady Bill, which imposed a 5-day waiting period before purchasing a handgun (Vote No. 394).
5. August 25, 1994 - Voted to end a filibuster led by pro-gun Senators against the Clinton Crime Bill, which contained the ban on many semi-automatic firearms (the so-called "assault weapons ban; Vote No. 294).
6. August 25, 1994 - Voted for the Clinton Crime Bill, which contained the ban on many semi-automatic firearms (the so-called "assault weapons" ban; Vote No. 295).
7. April 17, 1996 - Voted to expand the statute of limitations for paperwork violations in the National Firearms Act from 3 years to 5 years (Vote No. 64).
8. June 27, 1996 - Voted to destroy 176,000 M-1 Garand rifles from World War II, and 150 million rounds of .30 caliber ammunition, rather than giving them to the Federal Civilian Marksmanship program (Vote No. 178).
9. September 12, 1996 - Voted to spend $21.5 million for a study on putting "taggants" in black and smokeless gunpowder (Vote No. 287).
10. September 12, 1996 - Voted to make it a Federal crime to possess a gun within 1,000 feet of any school, private or public, and impose a 5-year prison sentence for violating the law (Vote No. 290).
11. July 28, 1998 - Voted against killing an amendment offered by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) to prohibit the importation of firearm magazines holding over 10 rounds that were manufactured before the 1994 ban was enacted (Vote No. 240).
12. May 12, 1999 - Voted to ban the private sales of firearms at gun shows unless buyers submitted to background registration checks. Draconian restrictions would have also been imposed on gun show promoters, expanding federal authority in this area (Vote No. 111).
13. May 13, 1999 - Voted to ban the importation of ammunition magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds (Vote No. 116).
14. May 14, 1999 - Voted for an amendment introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) that would regulate the transfer of firearms over the Internet (Vote No. 119).
15. May 18, 1999 - Voted for an amendment to force gun sellers to include trigger locks with every handgun sold (Vote No. 122).
16. May 20, 1999 - Voted for legislation to subject repair shop and pawn shop transactions to the same registration and background check requirements as purchases from dealers - even if a person was reclaiming his own firearm (Vote No. 133).
17. May 20, 1999 - Voted for an amendment offered by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) that would ban private sales at gun shows, unless the buyer first submits to a background registration check. Even displaying a firearm at a gun show, and subsequently transferring that gun to a non-licensee, would result in a two-year prison sentence. The amendment would also have granted BATF open-ended inspection authority to harass vendors at gun shows, and explicitly gives BATF the right to keep a gun owner registration list for up to 90 days. This amendment passed 51-50, with Vice President Al Gore breaking the tie (Vote No. 134).
18. May 20, 1999 - Voted for the Clinton Juvenile Justice bill, which contained a host of gun control provisions (Vote No. 140).
19. July 28, 1999 - Voted to end a filibuster on the Clinton Juvenile Justice bill. The filibuster was led by Sen. Bib Smith (R-NH) because of concerns with the gun control provisions in the bill (Vote No. 224).
20. February 2, 2000 - Voted for an amendment offered by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) to help the cities bring frivolous suits against gun makers (Vote No. 4).
21. March 2, 2000 - Voted for an amendment offered by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) blaming school violence on the fact that Congress "failed to pass reasonable, common-sense gun control measures" and call for new gun ownership restrictions on the anniversary of the Columbine shootings (Vote No. 28).
22. March 2, 2000 - Voted to use Federal taxpayer funds to hand out anti-gun literature in schools and to run anti-gun public service announcements (Vote No. 32).
23. April 6, 2000 - Voted for and cosponsored a "sense of the Senate" amendment urging the passage of new gun control restrictions (Vote No. 64).
24. March 2, 2000 - Voted for an amendment offered by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) urging the passage of the ant-gun juvenile crime bill being opposed by GOA (Vote No. 28).
25. April 10, 2000 - Voted for a non-binding amendment offered by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) urging the House-Senate conferees to get the juvenile anti-gun bill to the floor of each chamber by April 20 (Vote No. 64).
26. May 17, 2000 - Voted with 29 other F-rated Senators against an amendment stating "the right of each law-abiding United States citizen to own a firearm for any legitimate purpose, including self-defense or recreation, should not be infringed." (Vote No. 103).
27. May 17, 2000 - Voted for a resolution praising the participants of the so-called Million Mom March, and calling on Congress to pass the anti-gun juvenile crime bill that GOA was fighting (Vote No. 104).
28. April 2, 2001 - Voted for the Incumbent Protection Act, so-called campaign finance reform (Vote No. 64).
29. March 20, 2002 - Voted to end a filibuster of the odious Incumbent Protection bill. The blatantly unconstitutional legislation squelches the voice of groups like Gun Owners of America in the final days before an election. By making it difficult, if not impossible, for groups to criticize the anti-gun actions of legislators prior to an election, incumbents are able to duck accountability for those actions (Vote No. 53).
30. February 26, 2004 - Voted for an amendment to require all handgun purchasers to pay an implicit "gun tax" by requiring them to buy a trigger lock when they purchase their handgun, irrespective of need. In addition, the amendment would create a broad cause of action against gun owners who fail to actually use the storage device to lock up their firearms (Vote No. 17).
31. March 2, 2004 - Voted to outlaw the private sale of firearms at gun shows unless the buyer agrees to submit to an FBI background registration check. This legislative would have effectively eliminated gun shows because of stringent requirements placed on event sponsors (Vote No. 25).
32. July 28, 2005 - Voted for an amendment to require all handgun purchasers to pay an implicit "gun tax" by requiring them to buy a trigger lock when they purchase their handgun, irrespective of need (Vote No. 207).
33. September 29, 2005 - Voted against John Roberts for Supreme Court Justice. Roberts' record and testimony to the Senate show that he is strong advocate for Second Amendment rights. Had Reid's position prevailed on this vote, the 5-4 decisions in Heller and McDonald could have gone the other way (Vote No. 245).
34. January 18, 2007 - Voted against an amendment to strike language in a bill that would infringe upon the free speech rights of groups like GOA by requiring them to monitor and report on communications with members, and could easily have led to government demands for organizational membership list (a.k.a. registration) (Vote No. 17).
35. January 31, 2006 - Voted against Samuel Alito for Supreme Court Justice. Justice Alito's record and testimony to the Senate show that he is strong advocate for Second Amendment rights. Had Reid's position prevailed on this vote, the 5-4 decisions in Heller and McDonald could have gone the other way (Vote No. 2) .
36. February 2, 2009 - Voted to confirm Eric Holder as Attorney General. Holder was an anti-Second Amendment official for the Clinton administration, and has called for a renewal of the Clinton gun ban (Vote No. 32).
37. March 19, 2009 - Voted to massively expand the amount of land covered by the National Parks gun ban. As Majority Leader, Reid frustrated the efforts of pro-gun Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) for more than a year to repeal the gun ban. Sen. Coburn's position ultimately prevailed after overcoming Reid's opposition later in 2009 (Vote No. 106).
38. June 25, 2009 - Voted to confirm Harold Koh as Legal Advisor to the Department of State. GOA warned all Senators that Koh is a radical globalist pushing for worldwide gun control regulation, including the UN Treaty on Small Arms (Vote No. 213).
39. August 6, 2009 - Voted to confirm Sonya Sotomayor as Supreme Court Justice. GOA warned all Senators that Judge Sotomayor's record on gun rights was one of hostility to the Second Amendment, which was born out in her dissent in the McDonald decision (Vote No. 262).
40. September 9, 2009 - Voted to confirm Cass Sunstein as Administrator of Regulatory Affairs (Regulatory Czar). GOA notified all Senators that Cass Sunstein is a radical leftist who would like to ban hunting and give animals some of the same rights as humans in the courtroom (Vote No. 273).
41. November 19, 2009 - Reid voted to confirm the highly controversial Richard Hamilton to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Hamilton has stated that the Founding Fathers intended judges to amend the Constitution through "evolving case law" (Vote No. 350).
42. December 24, 2009 - Reid used his position as Majority Leader to pass the ObamaCare legislation. This bill will allow the BATFE and FBI to troll through the ObamaCare database for gun owners who would be disqualified because of their medical information (Vote No. 396).
43. March 25, 2010 - Reid voted against an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to prevent Veterans from losing their Second Amendment rights without due process of law (Vote No. 94).
44. HARRY REID WILL CONTINUE TO VOTE AGAINST GUNS UNTIL HE IS DEFEATED!
© 2010 by Gun Owners of America
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151 - Phone: 703-321-8585 - Fax: 703-321-8408
The information contained herein may be disseminated for non-commercial purposes as long as credit is given to GOA.
I did see it here in David's Sep 14 article:
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/fear-of-schumer-reid-angl...
Fear of Schumer in Reid-Angle race is a cop-out
September 14th, 2010 10:46 am ET
"And, as we've seen, we can't always trust Harry Reid, a man who, while admittedly voting our way and serving as a gatekeeper on occasion, has also worked against us in the past, and not just on legislation, but by giving very real aid and comfort to Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Lisa Jackson..."
http://gunowners.org/is-harry-reid-pro-gun-or-anti-gun.htm
I didn't know he voted against Roberts and Alito - we may have lost Heller, and McDonald may have never happened. The gun rights political spectrum would be a whole lot different. Wow - with friends like Harry, who needs enemies ???
I wonder how much longer people will listen to ANY of the politician lies. Their goals and methods have absolutely nothing to do with liberty and justice for us.
I only maintain my NRA membership to keep my membership in my local gun range/club. Any donations I make go to The Second Amendment Foundation who is primarily responsible for the Heller and McDonald decisions from the SCOTUS. Suggest everyone else do the same, send donations to the organization that is REALLY getting results.
I also cut up my membership card and mailed it back to the NRA because of their stand on the Disclose Act. I will not be associated with this organization so long as they are unable to stand up for all of our rights. Their cop out is they are a single issue organization, however in an article in the April 2010 edition of the NRA magazine America's First Freedom in response to a question from Senator Charles Schumer, Wayne LaPierre said "Well, senator, there is---it's called freedom from tyranny. And, like fighting attacks on the Second Amendment, the NRA will never back down in this landmark battle against censorship and in our efforts to defend the entire Bill of Rights." Then it is signed by Wayne Lapierre
So now I am not surprised to see the NRA taking such a stand on the endorsement in Nevada. They are trying to have it both ways and are becoming more irrelevent each day they are unable to make a decision.
As far as I am concerned anyone who is actually interested in preserving our gun rights, and yes the entire Bill of Rights should endorse Sharon Angle. Since Harry Reid has continued to endorse anti gun judges etc, I think Harry has shown his true colors and should be voted out of office.time
Silly David, Trix are for kids. I called the NRA about Harry Reid a few weeks ago. I was told they were not going to be making an endorsement, and they would issue grades at the end of September or beginning of October. Certainly you know this, so why waste time writing a story you already know the answer to ???
If it were up to you and your buddies out in blogosphere, we would be talking about the BRADY/CODREA endorsed Tarkanian running against Reid. You do remember endorsing Tarkanian over Sharron Angle right? You must have conveniently forgotten about Tarkanian being endorsed by The Brady Campaign in 2006.
If you had your way, the NRA probably would have had a free pass to endorse Reid over Tarkanian. Thank goodness Angle, a proven gun rights supporter, spanked your Danny Boy.
I saw how flustered and defensive you got when a few people questioned your logic in endorsing a Brady supporter. The best explanation provided was “Danny’s mommy did it” and then you said “I’m not married to Danny!” I wonder how well you would have handled that pickle if it ended up being Tarkanian v. Reid….most likely you would have insisted that Reid is worse than Tarkanian when it comes to gun rights. Then you would follow up with a story titled “NRA misfires with Reid grade”…a story which you have probably already written and will be posting immediately after the Angle and Reid grades are made public. I wait with bated breath for that one!
No, you're a liar. I never endorsed Tark over Angle. I wrote they both deserved support based on their answers to the questionnaire.
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/nv-senate-candidate-sharr...
A couple others in that race also deserved support--which was a positive--they were free to evaluate candidates based on other criteria, and whoever won, we had a good chance of having a candidate good on guns.Why the need to misrepresent what I wrote when it's there for all to see?
And when the Brady story came up, I wrote a column exploring that, including all the facts available from different sources, including a consultant working for Lowden.
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/what-does-past-brady-endo...
Besides which, I've also been clear about no NRA endorsement for Reid--to all who actually read instead of troll and lie. Which is easy to do when you can snipe anonymously with no personal accountability, right coward?
As for NRA releasing grades in Oct, that's what I'm asking for.And no, I have no pre-written columns.
And yeah, I'd pretty much select a rock over that Marxist Reid. That you wouldn't tells me all I need know about you.
That takes care of every one of your snotty lies. I'm through with you unless and until you ID yourself so we can see who you are and what your agenda is. I don't owe a damn lying troll a forum and you've proven yourself to be exactly that, so go ahead and spend a more time posting rebuttals--it will take me one second to delete them. You've had your shot and that's it unless and until you come out of the shadows.
Grades are posted:
http://nrapvf.org/upcoming-elections/Nevada.aspx
Angle: A
Reid: B
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/nra-posts-grades-and-endo...
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