USA – -(Ammoland.com)- “In race for [Minnesota] governor, [Tim] Walz embraces role as gun-control candidate,” MinnPost reported Thursday. “Walz had that pesky résumé item of having been endorsed by the NRA in the past, and then there were the photos: pictures of Walz wearing a camo hat with the message, ‘Tim Walz: NRA Endorsed.’”
How can this be? Chris Cox of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action had gone so far as to commend Walz for “his unwavering pro-gun support,” and call him a “true and consistent friend.”
But now Walz is turning coat and betraying people he used to ingratiate himself to because he wanted their support. When have we seen a Democrat* do that to NRA and the members relying on its political ratings before?
Plenty of times, whenever they perceive they can take the mask off and it will improve their political chances:
- We saw former NRA Director and Democrat Rep. John Dingell vote for the Clinton “assault weapon” ban.
- We saw “A”-rated and endorsed Democrat Rep. Bart Stupak not only endorse Barack Obama (who NRA called “the most anti-gun president in U.S. history”), but also earn Brady Campaign praise “for support for closing gun show loophole.”
- We saw Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand do a complete about-face and go from being NRA’s darling to a committed gun-grabber.
- And then there’s NSSF’s 2011 “Legislator of the Year” Jon Tester. And Wayne LaPierre’s “true champion of the Second Amendment” Harry Reid. And NRA-PVF endorsee Joe Manchin. And…
Democrats are the party of flat-out citizen disarmament. As they told us in their 2016 platform:
With 33,000 Americans dying every year, Democrats believe that we must finally take sensible action to address gun violence. While responsible gun ownership is part of the fabric of many communities, too many families in America have suffered from gun violence. We can respect the rights of responsible gun owners while keeping our communities safe. To build on the success of the lifesaving Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, we will expand and strengthen background checks and close dangerous loopholes in our current laws; repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to revoke the dangerous legal immunity protections gun makers and sellers now enjoy; and keep weapons of war—such as assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines (LCAM’s)—off our streets. We will fight back against attempts to make it harder for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to revoke federal licenses from law breaking gun dealers, and ensure guns do not fall into the hands of terrorists, intimate partner abusers, other violent criminals, and those with severe mental health issues. There is insufficient research on effective gun prevention policies, which is why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must have the resources it needs to study gun violence as a public health issue.
Sure, you’ll get Democrat politicians in hunting country who appeal to the sport shooter crowd and have to vote a certain way in order to get elected—the Party allows for such regional accomodations so it can increase its power and influence and advance other agenda items. But when you get right down to it, not a one of them will oppose a nominee like Obama or Hillary for president or Sotomayor or Kagan for the Supreme Court, they all support the cultural terraforming of the country in order to gain Democrat voters. They’ll all betray constituents on guns when they think they can get away with it and it suits their purposes.
And yes, no argument, it’s hard enough to find a Republican that’s not an equivocator, a squish or an outright turncoat like odious oath breaker John Kasich. A good part of that is on gun owners for letting them get away with it and on gun groups for treating known poltroons as champions.
Still, when you factor in all the ways they cancel out their “good votes” by supporting the Party agenda and candidates, the fact remains: There is no such thing as a truly “pro-gun Democrat” politician. And it’s time paid staff at Fairfax stopped setting NRA members up for serial betrayals by pretending that there are, and using cheesy superlatives to do it.
* Technically, Walz is in the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, which is “a merger of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the social democratic Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party.”
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament.
In addition to being a field editor/columnist at GUNS Magazine and associate editor for Oath Keepers, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.