Getting the Gun Vote

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SandyFroman/2007/09/28/getting_the_gun_vote&Comments=true

Getting the Gun Vote

By Sandy Froman

Friday, September 28, 2007

As the premier organization representing American gun owners, the National

Rifle Association (NRA) has taken center stage in the ongoing election

drama. To stop anti-gun presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, gun owners

must unite to protect their Second Amendment rights. With early primaries

right around the corner, there's no time to lose.

Republican presidential candidates lined up to spend time with the NRA at

its Celebration of American Values in Washington, D.C. Leading candidates of

one of America's major political parties set aside a day of campaigning to

speak to NRA members.

The candidates who took part understand that the gun vote is important. They

get it. How things have changed.

When I was first elected to the NRA board of directors in 1992, I could not

have imagined that an exclusively Second Amendment event would draw personal

appearances by major presidential candidates like Rudy Giuliani, Mike

Huckabee, John McCain and Fred Thompson. Even candidates with whom the NRA

has disagreed came, looking for common ground and to start a respectful and

productive dialogue.

For over a generation now gun control has been a hotly-contested issue in

national politics and NRA has been at the forefront of the debate.

Occasionally the left has won. Anti-gun forces had their greatest success

under Bill Clinton, the darkest years for Second Amendment supporters since

NRA's political apparatus went online.

But since then millions of gun owners have organized under the NRA, and the

results have been astounding. George W. Bush beat Al Gore in 2000, and even

Bill Clinton acknowledged the NRA played a pivotal role, especially in

Tennessee, Arkansas, West Virginia and Florida. In 2002, NRA targeted

anti-gun senators and helped secure a pro-Second Amendment Senate majority.

In 2004, NRA targeted key states against John Kerry, and defeated Tom

Daschle in gun-friendly South Dakota. Even in 2006, most Democrats who won

swing seats in the House and Senate openly supported the Second Amendment.

Despite eight years of a Clinton White House, and millions of dollars

funneled to anti-Second Amendment causes by leftist millionaire George

Soros, MoveOn.org and the Hollywood establishment, gun ownership continues

today to be an honored part of our American tradition. The NRA rightly

claims much of the credit for that, and has proven to the entire political

establishment that America's 90 million gun owners demand that our nation's

leaders respect their Second Amendment rights.

More and more Americans have come to recognize and appreciate NRA's

contribution. So when NRA created a forum for presidential candidates to

express their support for the Second Amendment, almost every major

Republican candidate showed up.

But there's still a lot to do and not much time left.

In Congress and the courts, the left has carefully mapped out an anti-gun

agenda. All they need is a president willing to push it though. All they

need is another Clinton.

As Ken Blackwell noted in his recent column, Hillary Clinton is the most

openly anti-gun presidential candidate in history. She does not even pretend

to be friendly to America's gun owners. She's a Northeastern liberal with a

socialist philosophy, no background or experience with firearms, and

fiercely opposes Second Amendment rights. She hates guns, plain and simple.

And she doesn't think much of those of us who value our constitutional right

to own them.

Gun owners must elect a president in 2008 who will support and defend the

Second Amendment together with the rest of the Constitution. In fact, we can't

claim victory for the Second Amendment until all the candidates of both

major parties-Democrats and Republicans alike-are eager to appear before the

NRA and its supporters.

This election also will shape the federal courts. The 30-year old DC gun ban

was struck down six months ago by a federal appeals court as violating the

Second Amendment. DC is asking the Supreme Court to uphold the ban. NRA's

lawsuit over the New Orleans gun confiscation during Hurricane Katrina is

set for trial in federal court in a few months. Gun rights are at stake.

If Hillary Clinton is going to be denied the presidency, it will be because

American gun owners refuse to let her launch a hostile agenda against the

Second Amendment and pack the Supreme Court with anti-gun judges.

To win this election and protect the Second Amendment America's 90 million

gun owners must unite under a common banner. The organization that has been

on the front lines of the fight and has delivered for gun owners is the NRA.

I hope to see millions more join the NRA to win what will be the toughest

fight in history for the Second Amendment.

Who will be president if America's 90 million gun owners speak with one

voice? Anyone we want.

Sandy Froman is the immediate past president of the National Rifle

Association of America, only the second woman and the first Jewish American

to hold that office in the 136-year history of the NRA.