In article <Xns9A81897B2D05SntzldfrdSntzldfrdco@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Sarah Houston <SHoust@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> http://gunowners.org/pres08/mccain.htm
>
>
> John McCain's Gun Control Problem
> by John Velleco
> Director of Federal Affairs
> In 2000, Andrew McKelvey, the billionaire founder of monster.com, threw
> a sizable chunk of his fortune into the gun control debate.
> It was shortly after the Columbine school shooting. Bill Clinton was in
> the White House and gun control was daily front-page news. McKelvey
> wanted in. He started out contributing to Handgun Control Inc., which
> had since been renamed the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. But
> while he agreed with their gun banning goals, McKelvey thought the way
> they packaged their message was too polarizing.
> "I told them that Handgun Control was the wrong name. I thought what
> they were doing was great but I thought it could be done differently,"
> McKelvey said.
>
> So McKelvey struck out on his own and formed Americans for Gun Safety.
> Although AGS shared almost identical public policy goals as other
> anti-gun groups,
> McKelvey ****trayed the group as in the 'middle' on the issue and
> attempted to lure pro-gun advocates into his fold.
> To pull it off, he needed a bipartisan coalition with credibility on
> both sides of the gun debate. On the anti-gun side, the task was easy.
> Most of the Democrats and a small but vocal minority of Republicans
> sup****ted President Clinton's gun control agenda.
> Finding someone who could stake a claim as a pro-gunner and yet be
> willing to
> join McKelvey was not so easy. Enter Senator John McCain.
> McCain's star was already falling with conservatives. He had carved out
> a niche as a 'maverick' as the author of so-called Campaign Finance
> Reform (more aptly named the in***bent protection act), which was
> anathema to conservatives
> but made him a darling of the mainstream media.
> Gun owners were outraged over CFR, but McCain still maintained some
> credibility on the gun issue.
> Earlier in his career, McCain had voted against the Clinton crime bill
> (which
> contained a ban on so-called assault weapons), and he did not join the
> 16
> Senate Republicans who voted for the Brady bill, which required a
> five-day waiting period for the purchase of a handgun.
> But as he ramped up for his presidential run in 2000, McCain, expanding
> on the 'maverick' theme, staked out a position on guns far to the left
> of his primary opponent, George W. Bush.
> McCain began speaking out against small, inexpensive handguns and he
> entertained the idea of sup****ting the 'assault weapons' ban. His
> flirtation with
> anti-Second Amendment legislation quickly led to a political marriage
> of convenience with McKelvey.
> Within months of the formation of AGS, McCain was featured in radio and
> television ads in Colorado and Oregon sup****ting initiatives to
> severely regulate
> gun shows and register gun buyers. Anti-gunners were ecstatic to get
> McCain on board.
> Political consultant Scott Reed, who managed Bob Dole's presidential
> campaign
> in 1996, hoped McCain would "bring a conservative perspective to the
> gun
> debate."
> The ads not only pushed the anti-gun show measure in those two states,
> they also served to undermine the efforts of gun rights activists who
> were furiously lobbying against the same type of bill in Congress.
> "I think that if the Congress won't act, the least I can do is sup****t
> the initiative in states where it's on the ballot," McCain said in an
> interview. At the time still a newcomer to the gun control debate,
> McCain said, "I do believe my view has evolved."
> McCain continued to pursue his anti-gun agenda even after his
> presidential run ended, and the next year he and McKelvey made it to
> the big screen. As moviegoers flocked to see Pearl Harbor, they were
> treated to an anti-gun trailer ad featuring McCain. This time the
> Senator was pu****ng legislation to force people to keep firearms
> locked up in the home. "We owe it to our children to be responsible by
> keeping our guns locked up," McCain told viewers.
> Economist and author John Lott, Jr., noted, "No mention was ever made
> by McCain about using guns for self-defense or that gunlocks might
> make it difficult to stop intruders who break into your home. And
> research indicates that
> McCain's push for gunlocks is far more likely to lead to more deaths
> than it saves."
> Also in 2001, McCain went from being a sup****ter of anti-gun bills to
> being a
> lead sponsor.
> Pro-gun allies in Congress who were holding off gun show legislation --
> which
> would at best register gun owners and at worst close down the shows
> entirely
> -- were angered when McCain teamed up with Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT)
> and introduced a "compromise" bill to give the issue momentum.
> "There is a lot of frustration. He has got his own agenda," one
> Republican Senator told Roll Call.
> After September 11, 2001, McKelvey and McCain, now joined by Lieberman,
> had a
> new angle to push gun control.
> "Terrorists are exploiting the gun show loophole," AGS ads hyped.
> McCain and Lieberman hit the airwaves again in a series of radio and
> TV spots, thanks to
> McKelvey's multi-million dollar investment.
> A Cox News Service article noted that, "The ads first focused on gun
> safety but switched to terrorism after Sept. 11. Americans for Gun
> Safety said the switch is legitimate."
> However, Second Amendment expert Dave Kopel pointed out that, "the
> McCain-Lieberman bill is loaded with poison pills which would allow a
> single appointed
> official to prevent any gun show, anywhere in the United States from
> operating."
> Ultimately, the anti-gun legislation was killed in the Congress and AGS
> fizzled out and disappeared altogether. The issues for which McKelvey
> spent over $10 million are still in play, however, and John McCain
> remains a sup****ter of
> those causes. In fact, as recently as 2004, McCain was able to force a
> vote
> on a gun show amendment.
> In the post-Columbine and post-9/11 environments, the Second Amendment
> was under attack as never before. Pro-gun patriotic Americans who
> stood as a bulwark to keep the Congress from eviscerating the
> Constitution were dismayed to
> look across the battle lines only to see Senator McCain working with
> the enemy.
>
> John McCain tried running for president in 2000 as an anti-gunner. This
> year it appears he is seeking to "come home" to the pro-gun community,
> but the wounds are deep and memories long.
You don't have to worry about "John" taking over as prez.
If Evolution is out-lawed ,,, only the Outlaws will evolve.
--
Remember," Only a dreamer can have a dream come true"
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