PRESIDENT'S COLUMN | NOV 2004 | ARCHIVES

    It is not often that the NRA agrees with anti-gun lobbyists, but when it comes to John Kerry, both pro and anti-gun organizations agree: John Kerry is the most anti-gun rights candidate in U.S. history. Consider Kerry’s list of endorsements and ratings: anti-gun Brady Campaign,100% for Kerry; anti-hunting Humane Society, 100% for Kerry; Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, TOP RATING for Kerry; Sierra Club, TOP ENDORSEMENT for Kerry; anti-hunting Fund for Animals, 100% for Kerry; anti-gun Americans for Gun Safety, Praise for Kerry; National Rifle Association of America, F for Kerry; and Gun Owners of America, 0 for Kerry.
    In fact, here is what the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence says about John Kerry on its own website (at the time of this writing): “John Kerry has voted with the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence 100% of the time … John Kerry, in 2002, received an F from the NRA and has a 0% rating with Gun Owners of America.” At least they’re honest, bragging about Kerry’s dismal Second Amendment rights record! All experts—even from the anti-gun crowd—agree that John Kerry is no friend to hunters and gun owners. John Kerry is no friend to our freedom!
    There’s an old saying in politics that if you want to know where a candidate stands, just look at who he’s standing with. John Kerry stands with Charles Schumer, Dianne Feinstein and Teddy Kennedy. In fact, earlier this year, John Kerry missed vote after vote in the U.S. Senate while he was out campaigning. But he left the campaign trail to return to the Senate to cast his very first vote of the year—to vote against protecting firearms manufacturers from predatory lawsuits aimed at bankrupting the industry. Despite the fact that 34 states had enacted similar legislation, John Kerry made sure his first vote of the year was an anti-gun vote!
    Immediately after the vote, a photograph was taken that clearly shows John Kerry standing with Schumer, Feinstein and Kennedy—all four with thumbs up and smiles of glee over their anti-gun vote. That was far from the first time Kerry stood with the gun-rights haters. Even though he now poses with shotguns and says he’s pro-gun, John Kerry has a record of two decades of voting against your rights. There’s another saying in politics: Ignore the rhetoric, believe the record.

• This year, Kerry voted for Ted Kennedy’s bill to ban all center-fire rifle hunting ammunition (Amendment 2619 to S.1805).
• In the 107th Congress, Kerry voted for the Schumer Amendment to use millions of taxpayer dollars to buy back legally owned firearms and destroy them.
• Kerry is currently a co-sponsor of S.1431, legislation to ban millions of semi-automatic shotguns and rifles. In fact, his own bill would ban the very Remington 11-87 shotgun he recently posed with for the cameras in West Virginia.
• This year, Kerry voted to ban gun shows.
• In 1985, Kerry was one of only a handful of Senators to oppose the landmark Firearms Owners Protection Act.
• Remember Rosie O’Donnell and the Million Mom March crowd that sought to ban firearms and register and license gun owners? John Kerry voted in the U.S. Senate to commend them!
• In 1999, Kerry supported a Lautenberg Amendment (S.254) to ban gun shows.
• In 1998, Kerry voted against the Smith Amendment to prevent the federal government
from registering guns.
• In 1998, Kerry voted for the Durbin-Chafee Amendment to impose severe criminal
penalties on a lawful citizen whose gun was stolen and used in a crime.
• In 1996, he voted to kill the Civilian Marksmanship Program.
• In 1994, Kerry voted to ban hunting in over a million acres of California desert (S.21).
• John Kerry has voted with Ted Kennedy on all but three anti-gun bills!
• He’s sided with Charles Schumer on all but one anti-gun vote!
• John Kerry’s record—Kerry’s actual voting record—is more anti-gun than that of Al Gore!

     Leading up to Election Day, John Kerry will no doubt pose with a few more shotguns and say he’s pro-gun. But gun owners aren’t so easily fooled. We aren’t falling for the rhetoric. We believe the record. We know where John Kerry stands, and it’s not with us, nor with freedom. Come Election Day, Kerry will find that we don’t stand with him!