Why are the majority of political candidates in Arkansas afraid to make their Second Amendment views known?
Arkansas Carry, a grass-roots Second Amendment rights group based in Maumelle, sent out surveys to every political candidate running for state and federal office. Some candidates answered immediately; others took a few weeks to reply. Most chose to ignore the questions completely. A couple of state representative candidates took the time to send an email turning down the chance to respond to the questionnaire, saying they would respond to the issues as they came up in the general assembly.
Governor Mike Beebe chose to travel down a different political road; he said he did not have time to fill out the survey, even though more than 20 days remained before Election Day.
I appreciate you contacting us with this opportunity. Because of the time constraints related to our campaign, we will not be able to participate in this questionnaire. ~ Mike Beebe campaign
The survey, consisting of 17 questions, is brief. The first six questions are basic in nature, allowing the candidate to show her or his true visions of the Second Amendment and the recent Supreme Court decisions. Mark Martin, candidate for Secretary of State, completed and returned his response in less than 24 hours. An aide could have filled out the questionnaire (the letter declining the opportunity was sent by an aide) for Governor Beebe and had it back to Arkansas Carry without any loss of ‘critical’ time.
Again, why do most Arkansas politicians fear their position on firearms rights will be made public? Blanche Lincoln and Mike Ross will not acknowledge receiving the questionnaire. However, the problem is not limited to only liberal candidates. Arkansas Carry has had personal contacts with John Boozman, Jim Keet and Trevor Drown in recent weeks, with all three promising to return their responses; but with less than a week before Election Day, none of these men has replied.
Do they truly believe in the Second Amendment and the Constitution of the United States, or are they simply paying lip service to get votes? Gun owners in Arkansas want to know why they should vote for particular candidates, and Arkansas Carry will continue to shine the gun rights light to find the answers.
With all of the above being said, I do want to show my appreciation to all the candidates who took time out of their busy campaign to show the voters their views on gun rights. Some of the respondents did not give the answers we desired, but they honestly and promptly showed their potential constituents where they stood. For that, I am grateful. Many candidates running for state House and Senate seats responded this election cycle, too many to list (you may go over the list here).
The Federal and state constitutional office candidates who responded to the questionnaires are:
- Tim Griffin, candidate for Arkansas’s 2nd Congressional District
- Steve Womack, candidate for Arkansas’s 3rd Congressional District
- Mark Martin, candidate for Secretary of State
- Mark Darr, candidate for Lieutenant Governor
This column and the gun rights groups in Arkansas will continue to monitor these politicians after they are elected and begin to shape gun laws as they see fit. We will compare these actions to the Constitution of the United States; especially the part saying, “shall not be infringed”.
"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." - The 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution
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Comments
Local and state governments have been under attack for some time now by the public for their ignorance of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Most politicians will cite those documents but few policiticans can honestly recite them with any accuracy. As children in the eight grade (1960) we were required to recite both documents from memory. Politicians govern us not serve us and it is even more so when it comes to the second amendment. They feel they are not answerable to us or anyone once they are elected to office. It is time that people who refuse to serve the people rather than govern them be removed from office and any politician that votes for a law that violates the Constitution or the Bill of rights should be impeached on any level.
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