2018 elections

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NSSF Analysis Of The Midterms

November 8, 2018 by 3 Comments

The National Shooting Sports Foundation sent out an email yesterday analyzing the midterm elections for their impact on the firearms industry as well as on firearm regulations. They will also be having a pair of webinars next Tuesday afternoon which I hope to be able to watch. I’ll report on those afterwards.

I think the NSSF is correct in that a lot of bills will be proposed and may even pass the House dealing with gun control. These will then die in the Senate. They refer to the Senate as the Red Wall. I think they are also correct that the pace at which new judges will be confirmed will pick up.

From the NSSF:

A Blue Ripple, A Red Senate Wall And What It Means For The Firearms Industry

The
results are still trickling in on Wednesday, but we’re getting a
clearer picture of what we can expect when it comes to the next two
years for gun laws in the United States.

Conventional
wisdom says that the party in the White House loses “bigly” when it
comes to the midterm elections, but last night’s results are proving
different. We’re seeing more of a mixed bag in the Congressional
results, a changing landscape in the governorships and gun control
advocates that spent big and claim victory. But that call might be a bit premature.

House of Representatives

The U.S. House of Representatives will flip back to Democrat control in the 116th Congress.
There are several West Coast races still awaiting final counts, but Fox
News’ Karl Rove predicted the final count will be 228-207 in favor of
Democrats, which will see the Speaker of the House’s gavel change hands.

Prevailing sentiment says Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will again become house speaker, but many incumbent and congressmen-elect have vowed to not support her
for the top leadership spot. We can expect short-term leadership
power-plays, but they will have little effect on what we will eventually
see in the next two years from the House.

What it Means

The “Blue Wave” wasn’t the tsunami gun
control advocates expected, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see a flood
of gun control bills. Rep. Pelosi promised Floridians when she visited
there in October that gun control would be a “top priority” in the
coming year. She said then that she’d push for a gun background check bill, which we can only assume means what she’s already advocated for in universal background checks.

Expect more. Virginia Democratic Congresswoman-elect Jennifer Wexton defeated Rep. Barbara Comstock on a platform that included banning AR-15 modern
sporting rifles and standard-capacity magazines. She’s just one of
several newly elected members of Congress who will be looking to make
good on their campaign promises.

Expect
the House to turn from a legislative body to an investigative body.
Democrats will take over every committee chairmanship. We should expect
little to get done in the way of legislation because they’ll be more
interested in investigating everything from impeachment to Russian collusion to President Donald Trump’s tax returns. And firearms will be in the mix too. Expect hearings on
taxpayer-funded gun violence research, magazine restrictions,
ammunition bans, age-based gun bans and attempts to outright ban entire
classes of firearms.

Senate

If
the House was the “Blue Ripple,” the U.S. Senate served as the Red
Wall. And it got bigger. Republicans appeared to pick up at least net
three seats, including North Dakota’s Kevin Cramer beating Heidi
Heitkamp, Missouri’s Josh Hawley defeating Claire McCaskill, Florida’s
Rick Scott topping Bill Nelson and Indiana’s Mike Braun overcoming Joe
Donnelly. Nevada’s Sen. Dean Heller lost to Jacky Rosen, turning one
Republican seat blue. Votes are still being counted in Arizona, and
Mississippi is headed for a runoff. The first and most glaring lesson is
that with the exception of Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), each of these
Democratic senators voted against Supreme Court Justice Brett
Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

What it Means

Most
importantly, the Senate has been called the saucer that cools the hot
tea that comes over from the House. It’s been a frustrating
characteristic at times, but now will become a reality that benefits the
firearms industry and gun owners. Legislation can pass the House by
simple majority, even if it’s just one vote. But it only takes one
senator to kill a bad bill.

It also means that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is going to keep up the blistering pace of
confirming judges to the bench and Trump Administration nominees won’t
be automatically mired in the morass of politics. That’s especially important when
it comes to the Supreme Court. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen
Breyer are in their eighties. Neither has indicated a desire to retire,
but no one foresaw that President Trump would nominate and confirm two
justices in his first two years either.

More to Come

We’re
still sifting through all the results, including state governorships,
state legislatures and ballot initiatives. Tune in when NSSF hosts webinars on
what the midterm election results mean to our industry and what we can
expect. You can know this much: NSSF will remain engaged, fighting
against legislation that hurts our industry and that infringes on our
rights while working to America safer while respecting our liberties.

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Remind Me Again Why SHOT Show Continues To Be In Vegas

November 7, 2018 by 9 Comments

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The largest convention centers in the United States are not in Las Vegas. The largest, McCormick Place, is in Chicago and then the second largest, the Orange County Convention Center, is in Orlando, Florida. The Sands Expo Center which is the site of the SHOT Show comes in at tenth in size.

I can understand why McCormick Place was not chosen for the SHOT Show. Despite its size which I can assure you is huge having driven right past it twice in the last week, no one in their right mind would want to hold a convention in January in frigid Chicago. I won’t even speak to the anti-gun politics of Chicago as a reason to avoid having the firearms industry trade show there.

I come from the school of rewarding our friends and punishing our enemies.

Nevada voters just elected Democrats to three out of four House seats including one flipped seat, ousted Dean Heller (R-NV) in favor of Jacky Rosen (D-NV) in the Senate, flipped the governor’s office from Republican to Democrat, hold both houses of the state legislature, and now have only one Republican official, Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, elected statewide. The Las Vegas Sun opines that Democrat dominance of the state should continue thanks to Latinos and young voters. I’m sure you might want to add (some) ex-pat Californians to that list as well.

Contrast this with the State of Florida. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) beat Tallahasse Mayor Andrew Gillum (D-FL) for the governorship. Rick Scott (R-FL) beat three-term incumbent Bill Nelson (D-FL) for the US Senate. Republicans hold the other three statewide offices (AG, Ag Commissioner, and Chief Finance Officer). Despite losing two seats in House delegation to Democrats, Republicans still hold a 14 to 13 edge. They are also projected to hold majorities in both the state House and Senate.

The Sands Expo Center which is the location of the SHOT Show in Las Vegas has about 1.2 million square feet of exposition space. Earlier this year it was announced that the SHOT Show would expand their venue to include the MGM Grand Conference Center in 2020 and the Caesars Forum in 2021. According to the announcement, it is due to running out of space at the Sands Expo Center and having to turn away potential exhibitors.

The Orange County Convention Center, by contrast, has 2.1 million square feet of exposition space and is the nation’s second largest convention center. You would not need to expand the SHOT Show to multiple locations to handle the growth in exhibitors. OCCC also has over 6,000 parking spaces. Orlando does have fewer hotel rooms with “only” about 121,000 rooms as compared to Las Vegas which has approximately 175,000 rooms available. However, when you expand out of the city limits of Orlando to places like St. Cloud and Kissimmee you thousands of more rooms. Another advantage to Orlando is the generally warmer, even balmy, weather you are likely to find there in January.

I would be all for immediately switching the 2020 SHOT Show from Nevada to Florida for many of the reasons mentioned above including more space and a gun friendlier location. However, it won’t happen overnight.

 The fly or flies in the ointment on making the switch are two-fold. First, the National Shooting Sports Foundation has extended their contract with the Sands Expo Center through 2027. I don’t know if this is because they got a better deal from Sheldon Adelson or because they just were very familiar with the location. The second issue is a shooting range large enough to handle Industry Day at the Range. The Boulder Rifle and Pistol Club is outstanding in that regard. There are a number of shooting ranges in Central Florida but nothing approaching it that I know of.

To conclude, the gun industry has changed from being a boys’ club to being more inclusive of women and families. You see fewer and fewer “booth babes” at the SHOT Show and the NRA Annual Meeting than in the past. It would be nice if the industry’s major event would leave Las Vegas behind and move to a more gun and family friendly location like Orlando. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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For Illinois Gun Owners And Voters

November 6, 2018 by

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Illinois gun owners and voters are faced with the choice today between Gov. Bruce Rauner (R-IL) and billionaire and Hyatt Hotels’ heir J.B. Pritzker. From what my Prairie State friends tell me, Rauner has been somewhat ineffectual as governor but has vetoed some of the most egregious gun control legislation to come out of the Illinois General Assembly. Pritzker, on the other hand, promises to support the whole litany of gun control from gun bans to state licensing of firearms dealers. The RealClearPolitics poll average on this race gives a clear edge to Pritzker. It will stay that way if gun owners stay home.

Both the Illinois State Rifle Association and Illinois Carry are supporting Rauner who they say has had an open door to them. Expect that door to be nailed shut under Pritzker.

Illinois Carry sent this out yesterday by email. They are correct in asserting that if all FOID card holders voted the 2A that it might be safe in Illinois.

Candidate for Governor
J.B. Pritzker Announces :
“NO safe space for NRA in Illinois!”
J.B. Pritzker vows, “The NRA will have no safe space in Illinois if I am elected governor.”  That means NO safe space for you and me!
Governor Rauner is the absolute only logical choice for gun owners.  He has a FOID card and supports the Second Amendment. The
Governor has provided IllinoisCarry access to his office and staff. He
has sought our opinions on gun legislation.  This last legislative
session, his veto and amendatory veto power was all that stood between
gun owners and the anti-Constitution tyrants in Springfield.  
If
Pritzker is elected – that protection will be gone and all he will need
is a simple majority to pass all the horrible anti-gun bills that gun
owners have been fighting against all these years.
Imagine
how safe the Second Amendment would be here in Illinois if all
2,287,291 FOID card holders went into the voting booth Tuesday and voted
for pro-Second Amendment candidates like Gov. Rauner.
The Second Amendment
Is At Stake On Nov. 6th!
We Urge All Gun Owners To Vote!
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GRNC On Tomorrow’s Election

November 6, 2018 by

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If you have not partaken in the early voting period and are still wondering who is or isn’t the pro-gun candidate in North Carolina, Grass Roots North Carolina and GRNC-PVF have a convenient way to check both their ratings and their recommendations. They also have recommendations on the six Constitutional amendments to the North Carolina Constitution as well as recommendations on the statewide judicial races. The recommendations are from GRNC-Political Victory Fund while the evaluations are from GRNC itself.

This last one is critical. Anita Earls is running as a Democrat against Justice Barbara Jackson (R-NC). She is a far-left SJW who would tip the NC Supreme Court even more to the Left and presumably anti-gun. She was the executive director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice which should say it all. She is very well funded compared to her competitors. Moreover, don’t be fooled by the R after Chris Anglin’s name. He is a Democrat who only switched to siphon away votes from Justice Jackson.

I anticipate that the Republicans could very well lose their super-majority in the General Assembly meaning that they can’t easily override vetoes by anti-gun Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC). Given the number of anti-gun candidates running as Democrats, the era of pro-gun Democrats in North Carolina seems over and any new gun rights legislation will have a hard time passing and getting signed by the governor.

From GRNC:

VOTE TUESDAY

CANDIDATE EVALUATIONS
&
RECOMMENDATIONS
TOMORROW IS ELECTION DAY
Tuesday, November 6th is Election Day. Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30
p.m. If you’ve
waited for Election Day to vote, you can review GRNC Candidate Evaluations and your GRNC-PVF Candidate Recommendations at any time. 
Evaluations vs. Recommendations

Candidate Evaluations differ from Recommendations. While  GRNC–PVF recommendations are analytical and therefore subject to interpretation, the evaluations are intended to
provide an objective measure of where candidates stand on Second Amendment issues. For a full explanation of GRNC’s objective star
evaluations, go to: https://www.grnc.org/remember-in-november/grnc-candidate-evaluations-2018
Candidate recommendations,
which are more limited than blanket “endorsements,” are not made in all
races, only in races where a clear pro-gun candidate stands out or where
strategic voting is necessary to keep anti-gun candidates out of
office. 

CANDIDATE EVALUATIONS
You can CLICK HERE to see GRNC Candidate
Evaluations. These are just one more tool voters can use to understand where any given candidate stands on gun rights, and
a copy of these evaluations can come in quite handy in the voting booth.  Print the PDF that is sorted by name and take it with you to vote. Just check this alphabetical list
against the candidates on your ballot, and you’re in business. You may have
also received the Candidate Evaluations in the mail, in GRNC’s “Remember in November” Voter
Guide.
YOUR CANDIDATE
RECOMMENDATIONS

CLICK
HERE to review all of GRNC-PVF’s Candidate Recommendations.
After clicking over to the page, scroll down to find your
recommendations for the US House, important judicial races, the NC
Senate and the NC House. If a district is not listed, GRNC-PVF was
unable to
recommend a candidate in that race. If you don’t know which districts
are yours, see below.

WHAT DISTRICTS AM I IN?

CLICK HERE
to look yourself
up at the State Board of Elections. Among other things, this voter
lookup tool will display the district information pertinent to you.

Still having trouble finding your districts? CLICK HERE to see the GRNC Candidate
Evaluations (open the PDF
sorted by name). Print this, take it with you to vote, and you can check the sheet against the candidates on your ballot.

Election Day is Tuesday, November
6th


This is your last chance to
vote. To find your Election Day voting location, CLICK HERE to look yourself up. Among
other things, this State Board of Elections voter lookup tool will display your Election Day voting location (it will probably
not be the same location as your early voting location(s)). On Election Day, polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to
7:30 p.m.

PLEASE VOTE
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When A Demcrat Says He Won’t Ban Your Guns, Look Closer

October 7, 2018 by 2 Comments

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Phillip Price is the Democratic nominee for Congress in the 11th Congressional District of North Carolina. He will be facing incumbent Rep. Mark Meadows (D-NC-11). I would be in Meadows’ district if I lived a mere 10 miles further south.

Price owns a company that deals in reclaimed lumber as well as continues to be a touring musician with his band called D. S. F. Earthcorps. He is also a self-proclaimed hunter and has been running the following ad on local TV stations saying no one is coming for his guns or your guns.

In a section on his campaign website called “Vision”, he devotes a page to “Common Sense & Guns” which features a banner photo of the Demanding Moms for Illegal Mayors. As he makes clear, he has their endorsement. Here is what he says on that page:

Gun Reform

Our schools, churches, movie theaters and concert venues are becoming targets for gun violence, and it is no longer enough to offer thoughts and prayers. We need change, and it is up to our elected officials to create it.

That’s why I support sensible gun reforms. I want to close the loopholes on background checks to buy weapons and ban gun purchases for those who have a history of domestic violence, violent mental illness or animal abuse. We must restore the ban on those semiautomatic weapons that have been used in so many attacks, and get rid of the large capacity magazines and bump stocks that make it even easier to hit multiple victims so quickly.

I’m a hunter and a gun owner and I stand with most Americans who already support these commonsense changes in policy.

After reviewing the campaign’s stance, I recently received the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate distinction, acknowledging my support for real reform.

If my vision reflects your vision, won’t you please volunteer or contribute to our campaign? Working together, our vision can become reality.

Not coming for your guns? Really? He says one thing on TV and figures he can tell the real story on his website because few people will read it.

Given his past run-ins with the law regarding marijuana possession, there are real questions as to whether he is a prohibited person or not. I don’t think most voters would take kindly to a prohibited person telling them they can’t have a semi-auto rifle, pistol, or carbine. Would you?

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Kimberly? Who Is Kimberly?

September 2, 2018 by 1 Comment

I just received this text from a number listed as being in Charlotte, North Carolina. Obviously, I’m not Kimberly nor is that the name of anyone in our extended family. Hmm.

The next question I had was who is David Wilson Brown and where is he running for Congress. I consider myself politically aware on both local, state, and national politics but the name just didn’t ring a bell.

Shame on me! Brown is the Democrat nominee for the NC 10th Congressional District which I just happen to live in. He is opposing Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) who is currently the Chief Deputy Majority Whip.

So I go to his website to check out his position on the issues. It is what one would expect.

School vouchers, against.

“Women’s Health”, pro-abortion and free contraceptives.

Jobs, ignoring the fact that we are at almost full employment, he calls for a new WPA/CCC (Works Progress Administration/Civil Conservation Corps). Shades of FDR and the New D

Taxes, it is our patriotic duty.

Religious freedom, for except when it goes against his sacred cows.

OK but what about gun rights? When a politician refers to “gun safety”, you know they mean gun control. It sure as hell isn’t about the Four Rules or training.

The Second Amendment provides the right to bear arms, but some are quick to dismiss the “well-regulated” part. We need common sense gun regulation that enforces current law and adds further safeguards to keep guns out of the wrong hands. Recent polls show 94% of Americans are in favor of background checks for all gun purchases. This needs to happen immediately. The gun show loophole must be closed. We need to encourage responsible gun ownership that comes with safety training. There must be a way that responsible gun owners can continue to own and use their weapons while still maintaining reasonable control on the dissemination of firearms to those who should not have them.

Given Brown has raised $40,00 +/- versus McHenry’s $2.7 million and has a mere $3,550 cash on hand, his only chance is to have a great grass roots network. As that text indicates, I think that is kind of doubtful. However, when an anti-gunner is figuratively shooting himself in the foot, you don’t correct him.

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Why Appeasement Never Works

April 12, 2018 by 2 Comments

Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) probably thought rushing to get a gun control bill passed after the Parkland atrocity would appease those calling for more gun control and help him in his run for the US Senate against Bill Nelson.

As Winston Churchill probably told Neville Chamberlain many times, appeasement never works.

I got the following email from the cult of personality known as Giffords. They are asking for money so that they can defeat Scott in his run against Bill Nelson.

In just a moment, I am going to ask you to rush an urgent donation to Giffords PAC. I hope you’ll give me a chance to explain why this request — today of all days — is so important.


Yesterday morning, Florida’s Republican Governor Rick Scott announced he was going to run for U.S. Senate. And what we need to do right now is send him a message from every American who has had enough of the inaction from Congress on this issue. And that message is:


“Rick Scott, we are going to do everything we can to defeat you this November. The gun lobby doesn’t need any more allies in the U.S. Senate.”


Shortly after the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, we ran ads highlighting Rick Scott’s history of indulging the gun lobby’s every wish. Today, we need you to help us keep up the pressure:


Make a $3 donation to Giffords PAC today to help us ensure that Rick Scott gets nowhere near the U.S. Senate where he will cast votes on gun violence legislation that impact every American.


If we can send a message to politicians across the country that their path to further elected office is imperiled by their support for the gun lobby’s priorities, we will do more than we could possibly imagine to change the trajectory of this debate.


And that starts with keeping Rick Scott out of office.


All my best,


Peter Ambler
Executive Director
Giffords PAC

I hate to break it to Peter Ambler – and to Rick Scott – but we in the gun culture really don’t consider Scott an ally. If Rick Scott was an ally, 18 through 20 year olds wouldn’t have lost their ability to purchase a rifle or shotgun.