Hunters and Shooters Support Obama: He "Gets It"

Today, as president of the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA), I announced our endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. Because the gun issue has recently become a factor in the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, I want to share the remarks I made today:

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.

We reached out to the Obama campaign several weeks ago to offer our support and approval as was reported by Paul Bedard of US News and World Report.

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.

Senator 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.

To hunters and shooters everywhere, Senator Obama's vote demonstrated a fundamental understanding of the meaning of the 2nd Amendment which means he recognizes the individual right of all citizens to keep and bear arms. Senator Clinton, on the 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.

In addition, Senator Obama's commitment to conservation and protection of our natural resources and access to public lands demonstrates to us his commitment to America's hunting and shooting heritage.

Senator Obama will be a strong and authentic voice for America's hunters and shooters and it is with great pleasure that we endorse his candidacy.

Comments

[benEzra]

Mr. Schoenke,

I would ask you to please reconsider your organization's support for banning/restricting popular rifles and imposing unreasonable capacity limits. The country needs a progressive gun-owner organization, but as long as you support banning half our guns--no matter how rarely misused--how can you be that organization?

Rifles are not a crime problem in the United States and never have been; the FBI reports that only 2.91% of homicides in 2006 involved ANY type of rifle, which is only half as many as were murdered with shoes and bare hands.

http://www.tribtalk.com/showthread.php?t=16466
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_20.html

I have been critical of AHSA in the past, but would very much like you to evolve into an organization that would represent all of America's lawful and responsible gun owners, not just the minority who hunt.

Thank you for your time, and best wishes.

bE

[Sneaky]

Need to pick this up here where we have more room for discourse.

"The Supremacy Clause of the constitution makes the constitution the supreme law of the land, which is its authority to override state constitutions that contravene it."

And the Supremacy Clause specifically ends with this: "any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding." Add to this the 10th Amendment, which states very plainly that whatever's not covered above is up to the states. The First and Second Amendments, for example, recognize certain rights by placing limitations on Congress, specifically. The Third Amendment recognizes a right by placing limitations on soldiers, specifically. Only the Fourth through Ninth Amendments apply without limitation to both the United States (federal government) and the individual States, and the Ninth Amendment in particular nullifies the need for the at least part of the 14th Amendment. Even outside the Bill of Rights, we still find the US Constitution almost Bereft of duties of States, and almost exclusively filled with duties and powers granted to the three branches of federal government.

Again, I maintain that the 14th Amendment does NOT read an unconditional application of the Bill of Rights to the States, just as the very clause you mentioned clarifies by ending with 'unless otherwise stated'.

[Thirdpower2]

"As a gun rights organization"...

From the now defunct "Americans for Gun Safety":

For current gun safety data and other information, we recommend the American Hunters and Shooters Association, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Notice the grouping.

From the Brady Campaign:

Paul Helmke, the President of the Brady Campaign, says of the AHSA, "I see our issues as complementary to theirs".

What kind of organization are they again? Obviously they have nothing to do w/ "gun rights".

[MrKnuckles]

Now if he can just get the endorsement of The United Bowlers Union we're good...

[aquarharris688]

Gee MrKnuckles. Hillary can't bowl either. As he said basketball is his sport, wwhicch he is very good at.

[geobushono]

When it comes to who wants to take Our Guns, remind me of the Party affiliation of Sarah Brady.
(Those are republican crickets you hear.)

[SnowflakesInHell]

What makes you think gun owners give a crap about party? We tend to go Republican because they tend to go our way. There are definitely anti-gun republicans out there. The best thing the Democrats could ever do to split the gun vote is to get rid of gun control as a major party platform, and stop nominating candidates who support it. There are plenty of gun owners who would still vote Republican, but plenty who wouldn't, including myself in many instances. Pennsylvanians like Democrats, but they also like their guns.

[Grunty1]

Is this endorsement the reason that Hillary took up duck hunting and drinking?

[VicksieDo]

...and that still wasn't enough! Gotta chuckle over that one.

[VivaZapata]

I have a friend who has several guns in the house and votes based on who is not going to "take ...(his) guns away." When he got in a domestic dispute and a call was made against him, the local swat team descended on him like his jersey home was somewhere in Iraq. He was ordered to lie prostrate on the cement ground outside his home in front of all the watching neighbors. Out and down he went. His guns were confiscated. When he was found innocent of any crimes, his guns were returned. This situation could have turned out very differently had he fought with the police who acted like the gestapo. My point is that the reality of most situations is that 2nd amendment rights don't mean much when it comes down to the nitty gritty. Too many people, too far from 1789.

[SnowflakesInHell]

Right, because most home invaders are SWAT teams.

[paciere]

"I want to see that picture of her out there in the duck blind" - Barack Obama

American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) is pretty new organization started 2 years ago accordint to their website. I wonder what's NRA has to say about it.

[foreffectivegovernment]

The NRA gives him an "F". They know that his website touts the fact that he supported 15 gun control bills as a State Senator. He obviously flip-flopped when he was elected to the U.S. Senate or when he ran for President. I'm not sure when.

"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."

This endorsement sure as hell ain't gonna get him any disgruntled Republican votes. After all, that is who he was really describing in his comments in San Francisco, not Democrats.

[armadillious2002]

LOL - you don't think Democrats have guns or are bitter about their government? My God man pull your head out of your ass. I'm a Democrat and I have owned numerous guns including several Browning shotguns and rifles. I just don't subscribe to the NRA bullshit because I know it is just that - BULLSHIT! Think for your self man - don't depend on others to do it for you.

[Chuckbutcher]

Obama has said he has analyzed the 2nd as an individual right and he voted to block confiscation in a disaster. From there his very best bet is to shut up.

There are a whole lot of gun regulations on the federal book, at this point they are pretty much to the point. This nonsense about half way is nothing more than cover. You gun control advocates have had a middle meeting and it is not sufficient. The current laws are barely enforced or prosecuted and you demand more and call it a middle. Laws against ugly guns are plainly stupid, machine guns - actual military assault weapons - are already heavily regulated. Bazookas are illegal, as are any explosive devices, ie howitzers, atomic bombs, etc.

People kill people, whether with cars, guns, knives, baseball bats, fists, or medical miscues. People do it, not things. The things will lay quietly and do nothing without an operator. I live in a very rural town, very, and we are armed to the teeth, comparatively, and we do not kill each other. We get a lot of crap from urbanites and we aren't the ones doing it. Try considering that it isn't the things that are the problem, it is YOU. Your "culture" provides the thugs and criminals for your anger at guns, not our "gun loving" culture. What exactly is wrong with how you live? It isn't guns, you are doing something wrong and blaming anything other than that.

[TheyAllSuck]

The only crap you'll get from this "urbanite" (in NYC) is that you want to sell guns to shady people. Or promote waltzing around with handguns in NYC. Or fight common-sense procedures to gun distribution (no guns to felons, or diagnosed wack-jobs). Other than that, I really don't give a damn how many or what types of guns you own.

[patriotscholar]

Criminals always get guns. Normal people get gun owner licenses which take a few weeks during which their background is checked. Then, when they purchase a gun, there is a 24 to 72 hour waiting period before they can get the gun, during which another background check is made. Most gun owners go through this, or something very similar, for the privilege of owning a gun. And most gun owners are law abiding.
Criminals get guns through shady connections or steal them.
I agree that the 2nd amendment is not simply talking about guns for hunting, but include guns for self-defense as well.

[rrafiringa]

Well buddy, that's why it's best to give each community/county control over the rules of gun ownership, not the federal government.

In some areas, like NYC a lot of young men, all of them black, have been shot to death while unarmed just because the cops thought they had a gun. One, an immigrant from West Africa named Amadou Diallo got 40 shots because he was reaching for his wallet when the cops told him to freeze at gunpoint, another kid was shot for hanging out on a rooftop in the projects and probably smoking a reefer, recently Sean Bell got killed and two of his friends shot the day before his wedding after the bachelor party. Trust me, you don't want to even hint that you have a gun on you in NYC.

The counterpart is that in the big cities, gangs are not shy about killing cops, and they would in a lot of instances out gun the cops with AK assault rifles and the sort bought very easily in states or counties where rules regulating gun ownership are very relaxed. By adopting your "you there and us here" attitude, you're just sashaying away from the real issues.

[benEzra]

Except criminals almost never use rifles, they use illegally obtained handguns.

Chicago is a big city with a lot of gang crime. According to the FBI, there were 487 murders in the entire state of Illinois (including Chicago) in 2006. All types of rifles combined accounted for exactly 4 of them.

FOUR.

That's EIGHT TENTHS OF ONE PERCENT involving all rifles put together---all civilian AK lookalikes, all AR-15's, all .22's, all other target rifles, all hunting rifles. ALL of them.

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_20.html

Rifles are not a major factor in the murder of law enforcement officers, either:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/leokweap.png

Rifles are not a crime problem in the United States and never have been, so outlawing the most popular civilian rifles and carbines in America is wrongheaded and counterproductive.

http://www.tribtalk.com/showthread.php?t=16466

[SouthCentralDel]

Haaaa!!!

[1will]

Only the least knowledgable gun owner or hunter believes the AHSA is a pro gun group. This ploy could have worked in the past when most news was filtered through CBS, NBC and ABC but there are too many sources easily availble today to make this work.

[Denni]

Clintonistas, it's so CLEAR why Clinton is losing and losing BIG! You question the authenticity of an ESTABLISHED organization. It doesn't bother you that Clinton lied about Bosnia or that she featured a 'voter' who wasn't even registered in PA to tell others not to vote for Obama? Get real.

[SnowflakesInHell]

To be clear, I despise Hillary and Obama with fair equality. I'm just here sticking up for my second amendment rights against these charlatans at AHSA.

[geobushono]

This former combat Marine knows the Police are going to take your guns,.....like in New Orleans..... not the Dems.....
Remember this snowflake, Administrations change, Governments change...........the police DON'T change........The cops want your guns.
Now that we've taken care of that, can we count on your vote for Barack Obama?
Find out what the Left thinks about this.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2005/09/11/374/36486

[Sneaky]

What he said.

[SnowflakesInHell]

Before you folks get excited that Hunters and Shooters are ditching Obama for Hillary, you should know that AHSA is not a grassroots organization, but an organization designed to give cover to Democratic politicians who wish to appear pro-sportsmen but who are, in fact, no such thing. For instance, Ray, who is AHSA president donated $5000 bucks to Handgun Control Inc back in 1999-2000 (http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgave.asp?strID=C00113449&Cycle=2000), and has been a consistent supporter of a number of politicians who support gun control (http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?key=W8PSW&txtName=Schoenke,%20Ray&txtState=(all%20states)&txtAll=Y&Order=N).

Judge for yourselves whether these guys represent real hunters and shooters, or are merely operatives.

[SnowflakesInHell]

Ooops... that should be "ditching Hillary for Obama"

[chicagoexpat]

Yeah, can't be a true hunter cause he wants to do something about the handgun epidemic killing thousands each year.

Guns are essential for hunting --- people.

[SnowflakesInHell]

Except that they are used in hunting (http://www.chuckhawks.com/handgun_hunting.htm). They are also used in IHMSA Metallic Silhouette, NRA Handgun Silhouette, IPSC competition, steel plate shooting, IDPA competition, and are really useful for self-defense.

Care to try again to justify why AHSA supports shooters and hunters?

[cramos]

Huff Post I think has these little phony story elves that just pump and dump

[kenjisan]

how's this for a news story - straight from the horse's mouth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exsmFDYyK4U

nothing fake or phony here

[jean22]

Why are people debating the organization's authenticiy. The voting records of the candidates are a matter of public record. Obama voted in favor of the 2nd amend. Hillary did not. Why do folks continue to be surprised by this woman. The writing is on the wall just as it was with Bush.

[SnowflakesInHell]

When did he do that? Obama had a prime opportunity to support the second amendment by signing onto the amicus brief in the DC gun ban case asking the court to throw it out. 55 of his colleagues in the Senate signed onto that brief. Why didn't Obama? Why didn't Hillary? We're talking about a complete ban on handguns and functional firearms within the District of Colombia. If that's not a violation of the second amendment, I don't know what is.