The Boston Globe reports:
Democratic candidates in key states are embracing gun owners’ rights, winning favor from the National Rifle Association, a lobby that has long been the target of disdain from the party faithful.
In New Hampshire, Representative Paul Hodes, a Democratic Senate candidate, has an “A minus’’ NRA rating, potentially insulating him from progun rights attacks in a state that’s big on hunting and personal liberties.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid, in a bruising campaign for reelection in Nevada, has conservative activists buzzing because the NRA is considering endorsing his reelection.
Indiana’s Democratic Senate candidate Brad Ellsworth, who has an “A’’ rating from the NRA, may get the group’s endorsement this fall over GOP candidate Dan Coats, whom the NRA criticized in mailings to Hoosiers as being weak on gun rights.
And in Kentucky, Democratic Senate candidate Jack Conway has not only heralded gun rights but also signed friend-of-the court briefs supporting gun owners before two landmark Supreme Court rulings backing their rights in District of Columbia and Chicago cases.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/14/in_key_contests_democrats_championing_gun_rights/
Sahil Kapur explains in The Washington Independent why gun owner fears about the Obama Administration have proven to be unfounded. Gun control legislation has been dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Congress and President Obama signed legislation last year to allow firearms in national parks.
Kapur writes:
One year into his presidency, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence gave Obama an “F” across the board on gun control issues. The Chicago Tribune joked the following month that “[o]n the list of issues for which Obama is willing to put himself on the line, gun control ranks somewhere below free trade with Uzbekistan.”
As a result, gun rights advocates remain about as unimpeded in their cause today as during the Bush administration.
http://washingtonindependent.com/91209/fears-aside-gun-rights-thrive-under-obama
