Well, so much for the Republican lock on gun owners. The American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) have announced their endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama.
"As a gun rights organization we have not come to this decision lightly. We were formed two years ago because our research shows that millions of gun owners wanted a change. They not only wanted an organization that would protect their gun rights but an organization that was also committed to the protection of their communities as well as the protection of our lands," said Ray Schoenke, who is president of the District-based group.
"We believe recent attacks on Senator Obama's stand on the 2nd Amendment and his commitment to our hunting and shooting heritage are unfair and American Hunters and Shooters Association is stepping up to set the record straight," Mr. Schoenke said in a conference call today. "Sen. Obama has clearly demonstrated his commitment to the 2nd Amendment by his vote in support of the Vitter amendment to HR 5441, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill of 2007. This amendment prevents the government from confiscating guns in a time of crisis or emergency."
"Imagine how the citizens felt during Hurricane Katrina when government agents kicked in doors to confiscate law-abiding citizens' guns at a time when they needed them the most. We know Senator Obama 'gets it.' To say that he is an elitist is patently ridiculous," Mr. Schoenke continued. "Sen. Clinton, on the other hand, failed to grasp the importance of this critical issue to hunters and shooters and voted against this Amendment. She turned her back on America's gun owners."
But wait. Wasn't Mrs. Clinton just called "Annie Oakley" for her recent forays into whiskey shots and her fond remembrance of hunting?
— Jennifer Harper, National desk reporter, The Washington Times
Comments (7)
Hillary...thy name is Chameleon.
Posted by Elen | April 16, 2008 6:23 PM
AHSA is a anti-gun group in disguise. President of AHSA, John E. Rosenthal, is one of the founders of the Massachusetts anti-gun group, Stop Handgun Violence, a group instrumental in having many anti-gun laws in Massachusetts passed.
Posted by BK | April 16, 2008 10:09 PM
The shills for anti-gun politicians that make up the leadership of the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) are up to their old tricks again. Once again, they are trying to raise money from hunters and sportsmen, whom they hope to fool into believing they share their interests. But when NRA-ILA puts the word out that AHSA is an anti-gun front group, these "sportsmen" get a little sensitive, calling ILA staff "right-wing attack dogs" and calling gun owners who support the right to own firearms to defend themselves "self-defense whackos." (To see the comments Ricker made on a popular pro-gun blog, please click here.) But the truth is, AHSA and its anti-gun leadership have supported anti-gun lawsuits and gun bans, and its leaders have given money to the Brady Campaign and to anti-gun politicians like John Kerry, Al Gore, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, and Ted Kennedy.
Posted by PAT | April 17, 2008 5:19 AM
What AHSA IS.
[i]While AHSA purports to be a pro-hunting, pro-conservation and pro-gun organization, its leadership and board would qualify as a blue ribbon committee of activists who are anything but friends to the hunting, shooting sports and firearms community.
Let's take a look at who runs this hunters and shooters organization:
Robert Ricker (Executive Director, AHSA)
1. Paid witness against the firearms industry for cases where plaintiffs attempted to hold gun manufacturers liable for the criminal misuse of their products by third parties.
2. Consults for the Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence (the educational arm of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence).
3. Consults with Virginians for Public Safety (lobbying for additional restrictions on law abiding gun owners).
Posted by Pat | April 17, 2008 5:43 AM
AHSA is to guns what the KKK is to equal opportunity. They don't speak for gun owners, the National Rifle Association speaks FOR gun owners!
Posted by bobsguns | April 17, 2008 7:24 AM
Not sure what the point of this blog was to begin with, but it turned out to be another I survived Bosnia under fire simulacrum. With the internet, the author should have understood that AHSA is not a group that gun owners would turn to in order to protect their second amendment rights. Mr. Schoenke, like the Democrat candidates for President is saying what people want to hear. It's like Springsteen's endorsement, the words come together well, but what actions have backed them up in the past?
Posted by Larry Stone | April 17, 2008 9:16 AM
This is disinformation by the ASHA. Senator Obama's stand of guns is 10 miles left of Senator Kennedy's and Senator Feinsteins and I thought they were the worst gun grabbers in the Senate before Obama came along. Senator Obama has never seen a gun ban that he didn't like not a gun owner that he didn't distrust, he is for gun confiscation like Senators Feinstein, Kennedy and Schumer, the man is to be distrusted. The election of Senator Obama would be the worst thing to ever happen to the 2nd Amendment and the Right therin. Senator Obama is a Chicago machine politician where its so free that the dead vote twice, beware of this genleman, check his voting record for the truth.
Posted by Ron Nord | April 17, 2008 2:06 PM