Thursday, July 23, 2009

Pro-gun activists are loud

If you peruse the political blogs, you may have found that the U.S. Senate's recently voted down conceal-carry legislation has reinvigorated the pro-gun lobby, and rightly so.

But when Ohio pro-gun activists get talking, they can't help but talk about John Kasich. And they talk. And they talk. And they talk.
  • Even when Kasich says he owns his own gun, they're worried whether he supports the rights of gun owners.
  • Even when he explains that "violent crime rates are lower now than before the [assault weapons] ban was lifted", they still question whether he believes in it.
  • Even when he says he's against anymore regulation on guns, they still think he may want more regulation on guns.
  • Even when he voted to decrease the waiting period on guns from three days to one, just as the NRA supported, they still think he doesn't have their best interests in mind.
And one thing that has particularly irked me, why don't these Kasich critics bring up his No vote on the famous Brady Bill?

Because it doesn't help their argument, that's why.

Listen, guys. For as long as I've known John Kasich, he's wanted to reduce the influence of government in our lives. His priority as Governor will be to streamline Ohio's budget and foster an environment conducive to economic growth and personal freedom.

There is absolutely zero reason to believe he'd propose, lobby for, or support increased government regulation designed to take away the rights of gun owners in Ohio.

Now put down your keyboards before they go off.

9 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Fool me once, shame on you...

    You know how the rest of the old saw goes. After 16 straight years of no support from supposed Republicans Voinovich and Taft, you'll have to excuse us for being a little wary of a guy who voted for Clinton's assault weapons ban.

    I take John at his word that he'd never propose further gun regulations, but would be support our efforts to improve Ohio's concealed carry law and other gun laws? He hasn't said.

    He needs to sit down with an interviewer from a pro-gun blog and give straight answers. Why did he vote for the AWB in the first place? Does he support concealed carry? Would be work with the NRA and Ohio gun-rights advocates to clean up our gun-related laws?

    Just saying you own a gun and wouldn't support more gun control misses half the point. Would you work affirmatively for gun rights is more to the point.

    I don't think people are necessarily gunning for him, if you'll excuse the pun. He's not Mike DeWine and there's no level of hatred for Kasich like there is for DeWine. But even those of us who like and support John think he's done a really piss-poor job of explaining himself on this issue.

    Not to mention the fact that his appearance at the trap shoot had a distinct wiff of John "I'm Really a Goose Hunter" Kerry about it.

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  3. You said "And one thing that has particularly irked me, why don't these Kasich critics bring up his No vote on the famous Brady Bill?"

    One very good reason: his vote on the Brady Bill pre-dates his back-stabbing "yes" vote on the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (otherwise known as the Ugly Gun Ban, or "Federal Assault Weapons Ban").

    When a politician changes positions so rapidly, it's reasonable to deduce that those position changes reflect only the seasons of political climate, not some deeply-held personal belief system.

    Mr. Kasich switched horses mid-stream the last time the political wind shifted; why should we trust him to behave differently when the weather changes in the future?

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  4. Guys, thanks for your input.

    But, it's not fair to cherrypick the post. Take it all into account or none of it.

    Michael, I do agree that he needs to give us more detail on where he stands, but it's a long campaign and we don't need every bit of information from the get go. We have 15 months. Be patient.

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  5. As a staunch conservative who has always voted Republican in the past, let me say this.
    If John Kasich continues to be flippant about those of us who feel the Second Amendment is important, then I will not vote for him.
    For the life of me, I don't understand why he will not address this issue directly and man up to his past betrayals and make things right with a large voting block who would normally support him. I have only one thing to say and that is "Don't take us for granted because we won't necessarily be there for you."

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  6. Flippant?

    Obviously you don't read this blog.

    Kasich's relative silence has been a part of a greater campaign strategy. A strategy that has been working.

    One of the few times he has discussed a specific issue, besides jobs, has been about his previous stance on guns.

    As I've said previously. There are 15 months. Allow the candidate to formulate the specifics on each issue before becoming so over the top aggressive.

    He isn't ignoring gun owners. You all simply need to understand this campaign isn't all about you and let the candidate work at the pace required to win.

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  7. Ah, I see. We should just quietly go to the back of the bus and allow the master campaigner to work his magic.

    What was the phrase you used? "Allow him to formulate the specifics on each issue." Don't you think he's had his entire life to do just that? Will an additional fifteen months help?

    Here's the bottom line: we're not going to wait fifteen months while the "relative silence" campaign works its wonders. We need to decide now who to back, not fifteen months from now.

    You seem to be operating from the mistaken belief that we all want Mr. Kasich to succeed in his campaign, no matter what his stances are on any number of important issues.

    Perhaps you could suggest that instead of sticking his finger up in the breeze to see what sort of positions would be popular, he should get out in front and lead. If he's worthy of following, he'll have a following.

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  8. I'd recommend not using strawmen to prove a point. It's intellectually dishonest.

    I never said you should stand at the back, I said you should stand with everyone else.

    As for 'formulating his stance', you misunderstand. He has a stance, and the formulation is about how to present it for maximum effectiveness in a campaign.

    Disagree with that strategy all you want, but Strickland's plummeting approval rating shows that it's working.

    As far as Kasich being the kind of person that sticks his finger up in the air to form an opinion, well all I can say to that is that you obviously haven't followed any aspect of his career beyond a single vote in 1994.

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  9. Eh, see, the thing is, Kasich didn't just vote for the assault weapons ban. He likes to conveniently forget his key role in shepherding others to do so as well.

    He actively campaigned against my Constitutional rights, which is an act that is difficult for many to forgive, myself included.

    You are right to identify that pro-gun activists are loud. Kasich was wrong not to consider that when he was orchestrating a ten-year gang-rape of my Constitutional rights.

    It doesn't matter though, it's not possible to both honestly, and personally support the second amendment and to have voted for the scary-rifle ban.

    Based on that we know that Kasich doesn't actually believe; we can conclude that any resistance to further encroachments on our firearms liberties are based on a more generic (as you cite) distaste for government intrusion, rather than a specific distaste for government disarmament.

    The only question now is, does Kasich's fear of the pro-gun crowd prevent him from ever making a "mistake" again. I'm not sure.

    People dislike Strickland because he gives endless handouts to his Democratic special-interests. True. He's also cutting government spending and supporting firearms. Two things his Republican predecessors failed to do.

    Waiting 15 months and then doing a "John Kerry goose hunt" photo op will not convince me to vote for Kasich, and might convince me not to.

    Maybe you don't realize, but the distrust of Kasich is deep. If you don't think that the gun vote is powerful, ask Mike DeWine. He's off doing nothing right now because of the firearms vote. People like me, who cannot stand Sherrod Brown, proudly voted for him as punishment for DeWine's treachery.

    Will the ORP learn from this? No. They'll run DeWine again, and again I'll vote for his opponent, proudly.

    Kasich runs the same risk.

    If Kasich wants my support, he'd better start working. Hard.

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