Anti-gun opponents of the NRA will insist that the “R” really stands for Republican. While the majority of the candidates supported by the NRA-PVF tend to be Republican it is because they also support gun rights. That said, the NRA often does support Democrats who are pro-gun such as the retiring Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC-11)
The Grand Forks Herald ran a story yesterday morning illustrating the NRA does indeed support Democrats. In the race for North Dakota’s sole Congressional seat, the NRA has rated State Rep. Pam Gulleson (D) an A and given her their endorsement based on her pro-gun record in the State House. She faces Republican Kevin Cramer who is rated AQ by the NRA-PVF. Cramer does have the endorsement of the Gun Owners of America which does tend to be more Republican oriented. The dueling endorsements is what grabbed the paper’s attention.
FARGO – The North Dakota U.S. House race has attracted dueling endorsements from the pro-gun lobby.
Pam Gulleson, the Democratic candidate, was recently endorsed by the National Rifle Association.
Meanwhile, Republican Kevin Cramer has picked up the backing of the Gun Owners of
America, a more hard-line group on Second Amendment issues.
Gulleson on her website said she was proud to receive the NRA’s endorsement and does list them at the head of her endorsements’ list.
Gulleson accepted the endorsement, saying, “I am strong supporter of the
2nd Amendment and will protect and strengthen the rights of law-abiding
Americans to own guns for both recreation and personal security. I’m
proud to have received the endorsement from the National Rifle
Association and look forward to working with the NRA as a member of
Congress to protect gun-owners.”
Heh, it's like Republicans sometimes feel entitled to the endorsement or something. 🙂 At least some of them feel that way here. I did actually have to explain to a local Party leader that the NRA doesn't endorse just based on party affiliation and he could not count on endorsements for the Republicans who actually have a bad voting record. Amazing how that was news to him.