Op-Ed writers too optimistic?: ''The last nail in gun control''

As you read this commentary, there are several things to keep in mind:

Nothing in the past has stopped people like John Kerry from reversing course on "firmly held" positions when it was deemed politically necessary. Furthermore, there are already signs U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) is bucking his moderate reputation in order to please the fringe left of his party. Bearing this in mind, along with the fact that Alberto Gonzales, who has indicated that gun control is a "heart-felt position of his own", won confirmation as Attorney General Thursday, there can only be one lesson:

Remain vigilant.

February 4, 2005
The Hill

By Bob Cusack and Elizabeth Fulk

The expected election of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean as chairman of the Democratic National Committee this month will strike a crippling blow to the gun-control movement, lobbyists and political observers say.

Like Dean, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is a strong supporter of gun rights. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) supports gun control but rarely mentioned the issue before the 2004 election.

National Rifle Association (NRA) Executive Director Chris Cox said Dean, whom the NRA endorsed when he was running for governor, was taking over a party that had suffered electorally for its embrace of gun control.

Over the past decade, the issue had become strongly partisan, but gun-rights groups say the political winds have shifted.

Most Democrats supported the renewal of the assault-weapons ban in 2004, but few campaigned on it. To the delight of gun-rights groups, the ban expired in September. Reid, along with five other Senate Democrats, voted against renewing the 10-year ban last March.

Reid has maintained close ties to both local and federal gun-rights groups, particularly the NRA.

On Sept. 22, 2004, Cox wrote Reid a thank-you note stating, “On behalf of the nearly 4 million NRA members nationwide, I wanted to thank you personally for your efforts in defending the Second Amendment during your tenure in Congress.”

Cox pointed out that while Pelosi was “no friend of the NRA,” close to 50 Democrats in the House support the organization.

“We continue to watch both sides of the aisle carefully,” Cox said.

Click here to read the entire op-ed in The Hill.