The AHSA Strikes Back

I’m guessing, based on this article, that AHSA is done acting like a pro-gun group, and has actively decided to come out as an attack dog of the anti-gun faction of the Democratic Party.

NRA’s right wing attack dogs have been having quite a time this past week trying to weave a web of deception designed to discredit me and the leadership of the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA). In my recent diaries at Daily Kos (here and here), I have carefully laid out how AHSA, a new progressive gun rights organization, tapped into the concern of rural hunters and shooters over NRA’s failure to address access to public land and environmental issues resulting in a stunning NRA defeat in the hotly contested 2006 Missouri US Senate race. I’m sure many Kos readers were as surprised as I was that NRA, once again, acknowledged AHSA’s campaign made the difference for Claire McCaskill in that key 2006 Senate race.

Apparently we bloggers are now not only on the take, but also NRA’s “right wing attack dogs”.  Forgive me for a minute while I check myself for fleas.  They are correct that AHSA’s campaign was recognized in that link, but if you follow it, NRA basically calls them liars:

AHSA’s political activities are predictable when you consider its primary goals are to discredit the NRA and advance the interests of anti-gun politicians. AHSA`s first effort was in the 2006 Missouri Senate race. AHSA used direct mail to mislead sportsmen and distort the landmark work NRA was doing to protect millions of acres of wetlands in Missouri. While NRA was working with legislators to protect the 100-year flood plain in Missouri from development and ensure that land would be available to hunters, AHSA produced direct mail falsely claiming the NRA had “sold out hunters” so that they could mislead sportsmen into voting for anti-gun candidate Claire McCaskill (See Who Needs Another Alternative To NRA for more information.) Unfortunately, AHSA’s lies were at least partly to blame for McCaskill’s election and the loss of Sen. Jim Talent, a valuable friend of gun owners and sportsmen.

Read the whole thing.  Pretty clearly AHSA is attempting to get progressive street creds by pitting their “progressive” yin to NRA’s “right wing” yang.  I would note that there’s another group that uses this exact tactic, known as Gun Owners of America, and AHSA would fall all over themselves if they were half as good at playing this card from the left as GOA is at playing it from the right.

Their leaders call our first responders “jack booted thugs”; they fight efforts to restrict armor piercing handgun ammunition that threaten cops; they oppose background checks on all sales at gun shows; they opposed voluntary industry efforts to provide free child safety locks with all new guns sold; they oppose efforts to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists; they want to repeal restrictions on keeping guns out of bars and restaurants when liquor is served; they want to force employers to allow guns in the work place; they oppose efforts of our nation’s big city mayor’s to stop illegal gun traffickers ;and, incredibly, they want to criminalize efforts by law enforcement to share crime gun trace information. This is just a short list that more than justifies labels like “right wing whackos”.

Wait, am I reading something by AHSA or the Brady Campaign?  You guys aren’t even pretending anymore.   Face it Schoenke, the gig is up.  You’re another gun control group, and it couldn’t be more obvious.  Everyone should read the whole sorry thing.