Gun Issues

Mr. Boucher has been a strong advocate for gun ownership and Second Amendment rights.  He is to be commended for that.  The National Rifle Association gives him its highest rating.

However, here is the problem.  Intellectual dishonesty.

Mr. Boucher repeatedly referred to Barack Obama’s “respect for gun rights” and, at a Democrat rally in Abingdon on 11/1/08, called Obama “A FRIEND TO GUN OWNERS”.  He stated, “He respects the Second Amendment  … and ” HE’s HAD THAT POSITION FOR A LONG TIME”.

Rick Boucher’s duplicitous hypocricy and arrogant, condescending gall … not to mention intellectual dishonesty … is downright insulting.  He has gotten away with saying whatever he thinks people want to hear for so long that he has become “immune” to being challenged.

Mr. Boucher knew, full well, Obama’s extreme anti-gun track record.  For example, BEFORE Obama was running for president there was a key vote in the Senate on July 29, 2005 which, in effect, provided liability protection for manufacturers of firearms for harm caused by criminal or unlawful misuse of their products.  It would be like protecting General Motors fom being sued if someone used a Chevy in the commission of an unlawful act.  Or how about allowing lawsuits against baseball-bat manufacturers if some idiot killed someone with a baseball bat?  The amendment, of course,  passed overwhelmingly in the Senate.  Obama voted  “NO” to protecting the manufacturers.

AFTER Obama announced he was running for President, however, there was a key vote in the Senate (S 1200 on 2/25/08) regarding “federal funds being used to decrease gun ownership”.  Obama was put on the spot.   The amendment called for PROHIBITING federal money from being used to “carry out any anti-firearm program, gun buy-back program, or program to discourage or stigmatize the private ownership of firearms for collecting, hunting, or self-defense.”  The amendment passed 78-11!  How did Obama handle the situation?  The record shows ….  ”DID NOT VOTE”. 

As a presidential candidate the following question was asked of  Obama, “When you were in the state senate, you talked about licensing and registering gun owners.  Would you do that as President?”   How about this as his answer, “I don’t think we can get that done”.   Huh?

Yes, Obama endorsed an Illinois handgun BAN.  As a candidate for President, he denied it.  In 1996 his HANDWRITING is on a document endorsing a state ban on the sale and possession of handguns in Illinois.  Question #35 on a Chicago nonprofit “Independent Voters of Illinois” – Do you support legislation to ban the manufacture, sale and possession of Handguns?  “Yes” is the answer in his own handwriting.  Obama later responded that, “No, my writing was not on that particular questionnaire.  As I said, I never favored an all-out ban on handguns”.

As a Presidential candidate, Obama stated, “I have no intention of taking away folks’ guns.”   However, Obama supported D.C.’s handgun bill prohibiting ownership of handguns saying that it was “constitutional”.

In an interview with the Bristol Herald Newspaper, Mr. Boucher  proudly described his and his staff’s “advice” to the Obama campaign “advising them on steps he [Obama] could take to win votes here.  We also suggested to him particular strategies that have worked for us”, noting that “ads related to the coal industry and targeting issues such as RESPECT FOR GUN RIGHTS were among the suggestions given”.

That “strategy” may have worked for Mr. Boucher in delivering enough votes to turn Virginia into a “blue state” and no longer a “southern state”.  However, the The National Rifle Association vehemently disagrees with Mr. Boucher’s opinion.  The NRA gives Obama an “F” rating – its lowest possible grade. 

Whom do you believe?

If one accepts the NRA’s high rating of Mr. Boucher regarding his good record on Second Amendment rights, then would it not be also logical  to accept the NRA’s rating of Mr. Obama’s record?  In addition to Obama’s “F” rating, the NRA stated that Obama “WOULD BE THE MOST ANTI-GUN PRESIDENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY”.

The NRA has also denounced the Obama transition team’s questionnaire asking potential appointees about their own gun ownership.  The 63-question personnel form includes this query:  “Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun?  If so, please complete ownership and registration information.  Has the registration ever lapsed?  Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage”.

Paul Light, Professor of Public Service at New York University, stated that “There was no such question for potential appointees when George W. Bush took office in 2000″.  He goes on to say, “It kind of sticks out there like a sore thumb”.  The NRA is crying foul over the question.  Chris Cox, the NRA’s top political official, says, “Barack Obama and his administration are showing their true colors and true philosophy with regard to the Second Amendment.  It shows what we’ve been saying all along – this guy doesn’t view the Second Amendment as a fundamental constitutional right”.

Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina also denounced  the question and added, “It’s very odd and very concerning to put out a question like that”.  DeMint’s campaign organization sent an e-mail to supporters vowing to endorse legislation that BARS FEDERAL HIRING DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF GUN OWNERSHIP. 

The question put to potential oppointees is just the latest Obama move to irk opponents of gun control, NewsBusters contributing editor, Tom Blumer, pointed out.  Among other things, Obama has voted to allow lawsuits designed to bankrupt firearms firms, voted to ban all rifle ammunition commonly used for hunting and sport shooting, endorsed a complete ban on handgun ownership, voted to uphold local gun bans and the criminal prosecution of people who use firearms in self defense, and supported a proposal to ban gun stores within five miles of a school or a park.

“TO UPHOLD THE CRIMINAL PROSECUTION OF PEOPLE WHO USE FIREARMS IN SELF DEFENSE”.

Alan Gottlieb, founder of  “Second Amendment Foundation”, stated, “America’s 85 million gun owners have ample reason to be pessimistic about how their civil rights will fare under the Obama administration.”  “Mr. Obama will have a Congress with an anti-gun Democrat majority leadership to push his gun control agenda.  Gun owners have not forgotten Mr. Obama’s acknowledged opposition to concealed carry rights, nor his support for a ban on handgun ownership when he was running for the Illinois state senate.”    

Do you believe Mr. Boucher?  Or, was he simply trying to deliver enough votes to Obama in order to carry the state?   If Rick Boucher was “less than honest” on this issue, then could there not also be other issues about which he has been intellectually dishonest?

In the weeks immediately following Obama’s election, gun sales in America hit record levels.

One key indication about Obama’s real intent regarding gun owners’ rights will be revealed in his nominee for Attorney General.

“Sen. Obama is a friend to gun owners.  He respects the Second Amendment” … and “He’s had that position for a long time”.  - Rick Boucher.

“It shows what we’ve been saying all along – this guy [Obama] doesn’t view the Second Amendment as a fundamental constitutional right”. – Chris Cox, National Rifle Association.

“We knew he [Obama] could not carry the 9th District but the idea was for him to perform well enough here to carry the state”. – Rick Boucher.

Intellectual dishonesty? You be the judge.