Thanks to a Tweet by Mark Vanderberg of the Gun Rights Radio Network, I came across an article in the Las Vegas Sun from early August that is sure to cause heads to explode at the Brady Campaign and all the other gun prohibitionist groups.
In Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, the two leading contenders for the Democrat nomination are arguing who has better pro-gun credentials and which one is better liked by the NRA.
It’s not often that two Democrats try to outdo each other on who can best push the National Rifle Association’s legislation — even in Nevada.
But that was at the heart of a skirmish between state Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, and Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, in the middle of the legislative session this year.
Now, the two Democrats are potentially facing each other in a primary for Congress, a fight that usually sees the candidates work to outdo each other on who can best appeal to the party’s most liberal voters.
Both men have an A or better rating from the NRA’s Political Victory Fund. Oceguera was rated A and endorsed by the NRA-PVF in his 2010 election while Lee was rated A+ and endorsed his 2008 election.
It seems the two of them have been going at it since earlier in the year over who is better on gun rights. Lee fired the first shot saying in a letter to Oceguera in which he accused him of “plagarizing” other gun bills:
“I hope that in your zest for self promotion and aggrandizement in trying to receive a coveted A+ rating from the National Rifle Association that you haven’t jeopardized the ability to pass sensible and much needed legislation concerning the gun rights of Nevadans,” Lee wrote in a letter to Oceguera.
Oceguera responded back that he was proud of the work he was doing for gun rights, have been endorsed by the NRA, and that Lee was “very angry about the legislation I am sponsoring, which protects the right of gun owners all across this state.”
Oceguera’s omnibus gun bill which lowers the cost of a concealed carry permit and changed the requirement from qualifying with each semi-auto pistol to only one semi-auto pistol passed overwhelmingly. Unfortunately, Lee’s signature bill which would have allowed campus carry at universities in Nevada and which was NRA endorsed didn’t pass.
This Democratic in-fighting over who is better for gun rights is a good reminder that the “R” in NRA doesn’t stand for Republican. Whether it is Oceguera or Lee who faces Rep. Joe Keck (R-NV) for the 3rd Congressional District seat, gun owners are in good shape with any of the three.
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