But I wouldn’t go so far as to classify him as anti-gun. Here’s John McCain’s two major sins when it comes to gun rights:
- He supports regulating private sales.
- He was a lead sponsor of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act which makes it more difficult for second amendment activists, or any other advocacy group, to defeat incumbent politicians.
That’s basically it. He was voting against assault weapons bans when it wasn’t popular to do so. He’s bringing young, pro-gun reformers like Jindal, Palin and Pawlenty onto the national stage, which will enable them to be future leaders in Republican politics. Would you listen to guy that says something like this:
And I believe Gun Owners of America. I believe Larry Pratt. He has never lied to me. He has never told me one thing, done another and then changed his mind. John McCain has – often. And he does it on all the important issues of the day – from immigration to tax cuts to abortion.
Well, you just ruined any credibility you might have had. GOA does exaggerate and mislead. It’s been docuemnted here more than a few times. Our choice this election is not a panacea, but McCain is no better or worse than other Presidents gun owners have gotten behind. They were all imperfect, and we managed to make progress while each of them have been in office. That progress could likely come to a screeching halt, even reverse itself, if Obama is allowed to occupy the White House with an overwhelmingly Democratic congress run by the likes of Nancy Pelosi. That’s the reality we’re facing if gun owners follow Farah’s advice. If gun owners want better representation at the national level, sitting this one out isn’t how to get it. Let’s keep Obama out of the White House, and then hopefully we’ll get a chance to see some of this new blood run for national office.
Technically, he did vote for an AWB when it got combined w/ the original “Protection” act although he did vote against it as an amendment.
That’s because he got his private sale bill on it. On that issue, he is definitely not our friend. But remember that Bush said he’d sign an AWB if it got to his desk too.
The lovely and talented Mary Katherine Ham coined one of my favorite phrases:
“McCain No likey the gun show.”
Did McCain’s bill cover all sales or only sales at gun shows???
McCain’s gun show bill was pretty bad. It essentially did both, IIRC. Regulated private sales and imposed additional burdens on gun shows.
Between the Brady Act and the AW ban, both opposed by McCain, I think McCain is better on guns than any President who has served in my lifetime. Most telling is that he’s only been wrong on two issues gun owners care about, and one of them isn’t even about guns.
You forgot the Evil Trigger Lock Law, the one that Pratt screamed about, that mandates that guns come with trigger locks, and probably adds all of five dollars to the sale price of the gun. That was when I dropped my GOA membership. I don’t have much patience for hysteria and misrepresentation, especially not from lobbying organizations.
I’m certainly no fan of McCain-Feingold, but it’s obvious why McCain got behind it, after Keating 5, given how much he hates corruption. However, as another commenter pointed out, it is not a gun issue. Period.
He, like Bush, also hasn’t given much strong talk against “Assault Weapon” bans.
Of course Bush has only repealed the AWB in his 8 years…
Except for McCain saying he was against a new assault weapons ban and Bush saying he was for it. It expired under Bush because Congress wasn’t going to reauthorize it, and didn’t. Bush had nothing to lose by coming out in favor of the ban, because he knew that Congress wouldn’t put it on his desk. Gun owners were going to be happy as long as the ban went away.