How the Presidential Candidates rate on gun rights

It can be difficult to determine where your favorite Presidential Candidate stands on the Second Amendment if you only listen to their standard talking points. As a result it is helpful to look at their ratings from the gun rights organizations that you trust. Unfortunately the NRA does not rate candidates specifically for the primary, so you have to do some digging through the NRA PVF Archive to find NRA ratings from past elections. For your convenience, I've done the digging for you, and below is what I found for the current top contenders along with the date that the NRA rated them.

NRA PVF Ratings:

• A+ Rick Perry (2010 election for Texas Governor)


• A+ Rick Santorum (2006 election for Pennsylvania US Senate)


• A- Ron Paul (2010 election for US House of Representatives)


• B Mitt Romney (2002 election for Massachusetts Governor - prior to signing 2004 legislation)


• Newt Gingrich - I can't find the ratings on Gingrich since the archive only goes back to 2002 and he last ran for office in 1998 but rest assured that Newt Gingrich is a big government progressive with plenty of Gun Rights issues to be concerned about.

Be aware that there are significant concerns with anti-gun legislation that Rick Santorum has voted for in the late 1990's. There are also concerns about legislation Romney signed in 2004 when he was Governor in Massachusetts. Kurt Hofmann has gathered together the details on past gun rights concerns with Santorum and Romney. I have sent questionnaires to the press e-mail of both Santorum and Romney to ask them detailed questions on their current position on critical gun rights issues - if I get responses from either I will post them on this blog.

Unlike the NRA which rates incumbant candidates based on a mathematical grade scale measurment of specific gun rights votes and actions, the GOA rates candidates on a subjective gut feeling of the GOA President, so I recommend considering the GOA ratings as the subjective opinion of a single gun rights activist. However, here are the GOA 2012 Presidential Primary candidate ratings which includes some details on why the GOA rated some of them the way they did.

Update 1: Clarification from the NRA on the 2004 Legislation Mitt Romney Signed

AZCDL PAC Candidate Endorsements

The AZCDL PAC has info on Arizona 2010 Political Candidates, which is also available in pdf format. We must only support and vote for candidates who have an A or better if we want to continue along our current path of restoring freedoms! Also be sure to check out gunvoter.org and the NRA PVF for candidate info nationwide.

NSSF Response to Mexican President's Call to Ban the Modern Sporting Rifle

The NSSF has responded to Calderon's Call to Ban the modern sporting rifle:

NEWTOWN, Conn -- Following calls by Mexican President Felipe Calderon that the United States re-institute a ban on modern sporting rifles, or so-called "assault weapons," the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) -- the trade association for America's firearms industry -- issued the following statement:

"While we respect the work of President Calderon to willingly take on his country's powerful drug cartels, we are disappointed that he, in the name of security, would urge our Congress to reinstitute a failed ban on so-called 'assault weapons.'

"Let's be clear, semi-automatic rifles, demonized as so-called 'assault weapons,' are not machine guns but modern sporting rifles that are used every day by law-abiding Americans for the shooting sports, hunting and home protection. Since 2004, when the Clinton/Gore 'assault weapons' ban expired, modern sporting rifles have fast become one of the most popular types of firearms for law-abiding Americans to purchase.

"Firearms that Congress would label "assault weapons' are functionally no different than any other semi-automatic civilian sporting firearm. They shoot only one shot per trigger pull, no spray firing as some allege, and use the same ammunition as other guns of the same caliber. What differentiates modern sporting rifles from other guns is cosmetic; for example, the type of stock on the firearm.

"According to the Department of Justice, so-called "assault weapons" are rarely used in crimes (less than 2 percent). Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has established that banning firearms and ammunition have no effect on crime levels.

"Some 29,000 firearms were recovered in Mexico in 2008, of which approximately 5,000 were traced to U.S. sources. That means more than 80 percent of the firearms recovered in Mexico were not traced to the United States. Furthermore, according to the ATF, those firearms traced were originally sold at retail not recently, but on average 14 years earlier. This is completely inconsistent with any notion that a flood of newly purchased firearms are being illegally smuggled over the border into Mexico. And let's not forget, no retail firearms sale can be made in the U.S. until after a criminal background check on the purchaser has been completed.

"In recent years as many as 150,000 Mexican soldiers, 17,000 last year alone, defected to go work for the drug cartels - bringing their American-made service-issued firearms with them. It has also been well documented that the drug cartels are illegally smuggling fully automatic firearms, grenades and other weapons into Mexico from South and Central America. Such items are not being purchased at retail firearms stores in the United States.

"Even more, investigations and regulatory compliance inspections by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) into firearms trafficking along the Southwest border have confirmed that firearms retailers are law-abiding businessmen and women who are playing a key role in detecting and deterring illegal purchases of firearms. As part of a Project Gun Runner Impact Team firearms trafficking operation, more than 1100 firearms retailers were inspected by ATF. Of these inspections only one retailer license was revoked. One.

"Members of the firearms industry take seriously the criminal acquisition and misuse of their products. This is why our industry supports the Southwest Border Violence Reduction Act of 2009, sponsored by Sen. Bingaman (D-NM) and Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX), and will continue to work cooperatively with law enforcement. For nearly a decade our industry has partnered with the ATF in a national campaign called Don't Lie for the Other Guy that makes the public aware that it is a serious crime to illegally straw purchase a firearm. The program also helps ATF to educate firearms retailers to be better able to detect and prevent illegal straw purchases. It is our hope that Don't Lie will once again receive grant funding from the Department of Justice – a move that would allow NSSF and ATF to further expand this worthwhile program. For the last year, Don't Lie has been financed entirely by members of the firearms industry.

"Again, we applaud President Calderon for taking steps to stop the cartels when past Mexican administrations paid only lip service and allowed rampant corruption to fester. Still, it is wrong for anyone to blame the Second Amendment and America's firearms industry for the problems Mexico is currently facing.

"Sacrificing the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans will not make Mexico safer – especially when the sacrifice is rooted in unfounded allegations and hyperbole. President Calderon would be doing both his country and ours a favor if instead of pushing for already failed crime-control measures, he used his time in the United States to call for proven methods to combat criminal acts, such as putting more cops on the street and more prosecutors in the court rooms.".

Cheuvront Sabotage in the Senate

Yesterday afternoon Sabotage of the Senate Version of Constitutional Carry was conducted by Senator Cheuvront and those who voted in support of his hostile amendment. You can witness the horror of their attack on our freedoms for yourself here (currently not available but it should show up within a few days) Details from AZCDL:

[On the afternoon of Thursday February 18, 2010], the Senate debated SB 1102 in the Committee of the Whole (COW). The COW debate is the last chance for a bill to get amended before a formal (Third Read) floor vote by the full Senate. During the COW debate, Democrat Senator Ken Cheuvront (http://azcdl.capwiz.com/bio/id/1881) submitted a hostile amendment, right out of the Brady Center playbook, which would make it a class 4 felony to not verify citizenship on any private sale conducted at a gun show. This is the same amendment that was defeated during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on SB 1102. The text of Senator Cheuvront's amendment is here: http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/adopted/s.1102cheuvront1027.pdf .

Initially, Senator Cheuvront’s amendment was defeated by voice vote during the debate on SB 1102. However, parliamentary procedures allowed him to reintroduce his amendment during the process of “closing” the COW calendar containing SB 1102 and a number of other bills. At that point, Senator Cheuvront asked for a recorded vote. As expected, all 12 Democrats in the Senate voted for the Cheuvront amendment. Of the 18 Republicans, Senator Jonathan Paton was not present for the vote, and the following 3 Republicans “crossed the aisle” to limit your freedoms, voting to PASS the Cheuvront amendment by a 15-14 vote.

Senator Carolyn S. Allen: http://azcdl.capwiz.com/bio/id/1886 .
Senator Steve Pierce: http://azcdl.capwiz.com/bio/id/24366 .
Senator Jay Tibshraeny: http://azcdl.capwiz.com/bio/id/48998 .

If any one of this “turncoat trio” had voted against the Cheuvront amendment, it would have failed by 14-15. Joining in the vote of their fellow Democrats to damage your rights were two Democrats who have received favorable NRA ratings because of their prior support of pro-rights firearms legislation:

Senator “Manny” Alvarez: http://azcdl.capwiz.com/bio/id/136029 .
Senator Rebecca Rios: http://azcdl.capwiz.com/bio/id/148303 .

It is imperative that we let these 5 senators know, in no uncertain terms, what a grave mistake they have made. We strongly encourage everyone receiving this Alert to go to our Action Center and send the letter that is waiting there. We urge you to express your feelings and feel free to modify the language we have provided:
http://azcdl.capwiz.com/azcdl/issues/alert/?alertid=14703956 .

This is NOT the end of our attempt to get Constitutional Carry passed this session. There are several opportunities that we can take advantage of. However, at this point SB 1102 will not be calendared for a Senate Third Read (final vote before being sent to the House) until we have determined the optimum strategy.

Bottom-line: We will not sacrifice your right to privately sell firearms in order to achieve Constitutional Carry!

Stay tuned! When critical legislation moves, we will notify you via these Alerts.

If you want to get legislative news as it happens, follow AzCDL on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AzCDL_Alerts .
AzCDL “tweets” from the Capitol with committee votes and breaking news as it happens.

You can also follow AzCDL on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/FacebookAzCDL .

AzCDL’s Political Action Committee (PAC) is also on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/FacebookAzCDLPAC .

These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Renew today! http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html .

AzCDL – Protecting Your Freedom
http://www.azcdl.org/html/accomplishments.html .

Copyright © 2010 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved.

Obamacare: Hundreds of Billions in New Taxes

Just for Obama, here's the definition of a tax: "a charge, usually of money, imposed by legislative or other public authority upon persons or property for public purposes."

So yes, forcing everyone to buy insurance for the "public good" is a tax. So much for his promise not to increase any taxes on anyone making less than $250,000.00, although to be honest, I can't say that I ever believed him.



While I'm on the topic of Obama, you should definitely check out this documentary when you have a free moment.

Mike Rogers on Health Care Reform

Congressman Mike Rogers of Michigan lays out a few of the issues with the various versions of Health Care Reform Legislation being considered:

AZCDL Newsletter

The AZCDL 2009 Issue 4 Newsletter is available online. It includes a summary of the new firearms related legislation that was signed into law this year as well as the voting records of your Arizona representatives & Senator. Check to see how yours did, I know all 3 of mine from District 4 passed this test with perfect scores.

You may also be interested in viewing the complete newsletter archive. If you live in Arizona & are not yet a member of AZCDL you should join in.

Future Ammunition Problems in California?

My friends in California may soon be prohibited from buying inexpensive ammunition via mail order from retailers throughout our Country if Governor Schwarzenegger fails to veto California Assembly Bill 962 by Oct 11th.

Do the politicians in California despise their law abiding constituents so much that they want them to loose the option of buying inexpensive ammunition via mail order? Do they really think these new ammunition regulations could hinder drug gangs entrenched in the drug war from getting ammunition when they already get all the illicit drugs across the border that they care to transport?

Give Governor Schwarzenegger a call at 916-445-2841 & tell him to Veto California Assembly Bill 962, or he won't be able to say "I'll be back" as a Politician after California term limits boot him out of the Governor's Seat in 2010. If the number gives you a busy signal like it is for me as I write this, you can also use the contact form. While you're leaving him a message, you should also mention a few other bills worthy of termination.

Update 1: Bad news, he signed the bill.

Update 2: The NRA and the CRPA have filed a Lawsuit requesting an injunction before this legislation is scheduled to take effect (Feb 1, 2011).

National Debt Road Trip at 174 MPH

Increasing National Debt Road Trip Visualization, adjusted for inflation & converted to miles per hour with one mile equaling 5.8 Billion Dollars in increased national debt, and 1 Yr equaling 1 hour. Bush was driving the debt car at 64 MPH which was the fastest our debt car had ever been driven, but according to President Obama's own budget estimate for the next 8 yrs, he's currently driving our debt car at a speed of 174 MPH. Anyone still wondering why so many of us are attending Tea Parties?

Stimulus Package: Predictions vs Reality

Remember the predictions of all the jobs the Stimulus Package was going to save even though Congress passed the bill without even bothering to read it?

AZ: Senator Ken Cheuvront is Worried

District 15 Arizona Senator Ken Cheuvront is worried that he may soon unknowingly sit next to someone with a concealed weapon in a bar or restaurant that serves alcohol thanks to SB 1113 Restaurant Carry. I listened to Senator Cheuvront complain about SB 1113 on the Senate Floor during the Senate Committee of the Whole floor debate, but that was nothing compared to his recent rantings during a Phoenix Fox 10 News interview that aired last night:

"Now there's going to be a fear that you don't know if the person next to you is carrying a concealed weapon or not," said Senator Ken Cheuvront, a Phoenix Democrat who owns a wine bar and restaurant downtown.

Someone should let Senator Cheuvront know that he could be walking or sitting near people with concealed weapons most any time that he is walking or sitting near other people. That is the very nature of a concealed weapon - nobody knows it is there other than the person carrying it.

Even before this law change there were plenty of armed people sitting near him in restaurants or bars that serve alcohol. I guess he didn't know that even criminals eat out, and they certainly don't bother to disarm just because they're going out to eat. The only thing that will change on September 30th is that the criminals won't be the only people with weapons.

Watch the video to listen to all of his worries:

Mayor Cedric Grover: Your Rights Have Been Suspended

Shreveport Louisiana Mayor Cedric Grover says your rights are suspended when an officer pulls you over.

If it wasn't bad enough that the Shreveport officer entered the vehicle without cause or permission, the officer also had the handgun muzzle aimed at Robert Baillio most of the time that he was in the process of unloading it! Hello! Have you not heard of the very most basic of safety rules such as the rule that you never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy? You'd think the officer could have at least violated Robert Baillio's constitutional rights without aiming Robert's own gun at him!

More here, here, and here.

H/T to Tom Gresham.

AZ AG Terry Goddard Opposes Constitutional Carry!

Standing in Opposition to Arizona Constitutional Carry SB 1270 which will be heard today by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arizona AG Terry Goddard and a group of Police Chiefs have announced that they don't support the Arizona Constitution. At least not Article 2, Section 26 of the Arizona Constitution which says “The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself or the state shall not be impaired . . ."

What part of impaired does Goddard fail to understand? Isn't Terry Goddard supposed to support the law? If so, perhaps he should READ IT.

I can understand the Police Chiefs who are political appointees who answer only to the anti-gun Mayors or University Presidents who appointed them, but Terry Goddard was elected by we the citizens to enforce our Constitution. Give AG Terry Goddard a call & ask him to support the human right of Self Defense and our Arizona State Constitution which PROTECTS IT!


Be sure to submit your testimony in favor of SB1270 via the Arizona Request to Speak system: http://alistrack.azleg.state.az.us/rts/login.asp

You can watch today's hearing on Constitutional Carry SB 1270 live today in Senate Hearing Room 1 (scheduled to take place this afternoon, Friday June 19th, whenever the Senate Committee of the Whole is Adjourned), or you can watch it sometime next week after the video becomes available in the video archive.

Update 1: I've been watching the live video feed of the Senate Hearing & SB 1270 Constitutional Carry along with a couple of proposed amendments were passed out of committee with a do pass recommendation in a 4 to 3 vote. Next steps for the bill will be Senate COW floor debate & the Senate 3rd Read floor vote.

Supreme Court Nominee Sotomeyer Unwilling

Senator Jim DeMint said that during a meeting he had with Judge Sotomeyer she was "unwilling to say the Second Amendment protects a fundamental right that applies to all Americans, which raises serious questions about her view of the Bill of Rights."

I have my doubts that Obama would ever nominate a defender of the right to keep & bear arms, so unfortunately this bad news does not surprise me.

New Hope for Self Defense in National Parks

Senator Tom Coburn sponsored an amendment to the credit card reform bill which was then passed out of the Senate by a 67 to 29 majority.  I'm not myself in favor of the credit reform bill because no matter how good it sounds, anything Congress tries to regulate always turns into field fertilizer (problems they try to solve normally multiply & increase in intensity).  However, due to the fact that the old House version of the same bill passed by a vote of 357 to 70 there is likely no stopping it (due largely to the battle cry of "we're having an emergency!  We need to fix it NOW- you don't have time to read it!"). 

At least with the Coburn amendment the stinky bill will have a little perfume added to it.  The bill overall will still smell like a cow paddie (not to mention all the smelly pork bound to be piled on), but the intensity of the stench would be somewhat reduced due to the small amount of good news that is the Coburn amendment.

Thank you Senator Coburn!

Update 1: House passed the amended bill.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon & Council EAT $152,000.00 (in free food)

Like many other cities Phoenix Arizona is going through tough times with budget cuts & layoffs so you'd think the free food for Mayor Phil Gordon & Council members would be among the first things knocked off of the plate.  Apparently not:

. . . Over the last three years, members of the Phoenix City Council have spent more than $152,000 on food and catering.

Council members have spent thousands at Tom's Tavern, the Downtown Deli, and Paradise Bakery.

"We all get a paycheck," Phoenix resident Justin Evans said. "We all have to pay for our own food. Why can't they?" . . .

The ABC15 Investigators also found that Mayor Phil Gordon's personal membership to the State Bar of Arizona is paid for by the taxpayers.

The mayor declined our repeated requests for an on-camera interview and refused to answer questions at a recent Phoenix City Council meeting . . .

I knew there would be more than one or two reasons not to like Mayor Phil Gordon.

Napolitano: Illegal Immigration Not a Crime?

DHS: Napolitano recently stated on CNN that Illegal Immigration is not a crime:

Napolitano: “. . . yes, when we find illegal workers, yes, appropriate action, some of which is criminal, most of that is civil, because crossing the border is not a crime per se. It is civil. But anyway, going after those as well.”

The fact is, crossing the border without authorization is a crime. The statute reads: “Any alien who enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers . . . shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both.”

CIFTA: Inter American Arms Treaty

Sebastian has a nice writeup on what is wrong with the old CIFTA (Inter American Arms Treaty) that Obama wants the Senate to Ratify.  Obama also wants to re-instate the expired gun ban but he admits he doesn't think he has the votes for it.

Obama is using lies in an attempt to garner suspport for CIFTA.  It would be a good idea to contact your Senator & let him or her know you are against it.

The NRA has come out against CIFTA.

Update 1: Lou Dobbs:

Obama: Liar or Idiot?

The title may offend past or present Obama Supporters but I've racked my brain & I can't come up with any other explanation for Obama to repeat the already clearly refuted FALSE claim that "More than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States"

There is no way for him to not know that he is being a deceitful liar.  No, in my opinion Obama probably isn't an Idiot, which only leaves the option of Liar.  What do I think of liars?  Well for one, they are an abomination Proverbs 12:22 (Old Testament, King James Version):

^"aLying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal ^btruly are his ^cdelight."

This isn't his first lie, and probably won't be his last.

Right Wing Extremists

I've always considered myself to be an American.  However, I recently found out from Napolitano and the Department of Homeland Security that instead I'm probably a Right Wing Extremist.  Why is that you might ask?  Simply due to the fact that I support constitutionally protected freedoms & liberties such as the right to keep & bear arms.  Napolitano even attacked our honored veterans.

Napolitano, your efforts to divide our Country into squabbling groups you can rule over will only lead to Americans Uniting under the common cause of freedom & common sense.  The firmer you tighten your Fascist grip, the more resolute you'll find We the People become, slipping out of your slimy power hungry fingers.  You will get a small glimpse of our resolution tomorrow during the Tea Party Protests.  I'll be there, as will many of my friends accross the Country, standing in defense of our Freedoms and our American Way of Life.