What Is The NRA Thinking?
The National Rifle Association has just issued its “candidate’s ratings.”
Some simply make no sense.
In Oregon, there is one politician whose entire career has been built on only one concept; the complete destruction of gun rights for everyone.
State Senator Ginny Burdick has demonstrated a single minded zeal to end gun ownership unrivalled by virtually any other politician in the country, with the possible exception of Chuck Schumer of New York.
Burdick has spent her entire time in office working night and day to destroy gun rights. She has introduced bills to jail gun owners for owning modern firearms, fine them thousands for having ammunition magazines, end their right to carry lawfully on public property and eliminate Oregon’s preemption statute. She has promoted bills to force you to lock up your self defense firearms and take away gun rights for people who have not even been charged with crimes, let alone convicted of them.
Burdick was the chief sponsor of Measure 5 in 2000 that criminalized private sales at gun shows.
With the help of John McCain and three million dollars in out of state, anti-gun money, Burdick forced government intervention on every transfer of a firearm at gun shows, even between two old friends who had known each other for 40 years. Now, if you share a table at a gun show with a friend and decide to trade guns, both of you must undergo background checks and pay the police to simply trade a revolver for a rifle.This attack on your rights has proven to have no effect on crime.
But amazingly, the NRA has rated Burdick a “D” while rating other politicians who have no comparable history of attacking gun rights “F.”
In 2001, the NRA called John McCain “one of the premier flag carriers for the enemies of the Second Amendment.” Now they are endorsing him.
What does it take to get the NRA to recognize when a politician has a single minded obsession with destroying gun rights? What legislator could be more committed to attacking your freedom than Burdick?
If you are an NRA member, you should consider contacting them and asking how a freedom hating militant like Burdick does not get an “F” and Gordon Smith who promised to vote to renew Bill Clinton’s gun ban gets an “A-” Meanwhile, anti-gun Attorney General candidate John Kroger is unrated, and vocally pro-gun candidate Jim Leuenberger is ignored. They even endorsed “D” rated Peter Defazio while ignoring his pro-gun opponent, Jaynee Germond.
For better or worse, many gun owners trust and turn to the NRA for guidance when making decisions at election time. This year, the NRA has given some bizarre and dangerous candidate’s ratings.
If you are an NRA member, we strongly urge you to look at the candidates and their histories, rather than NRA ratings when you make your decision in November.