Last fall,
John Kerry made every effort to  pronounce
himself, as politicians usually do, a friend of "hunters
and sportsmen."
Arriving in Iowa, shotgun in hand and
decked out in the most chic hunting attire, Senator Kerry sought
to portray himself as one of us.
It was a staged campaign photo-op that
would make even Bill Cinton proud. And, unlike Bill Clinton, John
Kerry actually managed to bag a bird.
Today, however, Senator Kerry did something
even more unusual: he showed up in the Senate for a vote. Since
announcing his campaign months ago, John Kerry has missed more
than 70% of the votes in the Senate while he devoted his time
to his campaign.
What was so special about today? For one,
it was Super Tuesday, the day when Senator Kerry faced the greatest
number of primary elections, and should have been stumping hard
on the campaign trail.
More tellingly, today was also the vote
on senate bill S. 1805, the Lawful Protection of Firearms in Commerce
Act, the bill that would stop frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers.
For the anti-gun crowd, today was the
day when Senator Kerry's friends Chuck Schumer, Dianne Feinstein
and Ted Kennedy (see photo)
came to the Senate to try to force their own anti-gun amendments
onto the bill.
And they needed John Kerry's help.
Senator Feinstein has been lying in wait
for an opportunity to introduce her new and expanded version of
the 1994 "Assault Weapons" ban. Her new version would
ban even more guns, including many more rifles and shotguns used
for hunting. If your shotgun holds more than five shells in the
tube, it's an "assault weapon," according to Senator
Feinstein. Never mind pistol grips or bayonet lugs: Senator Feinstein
wants all semi-automatics banned.
Not to be outdone, Senator Kennedy introduced
his amendment to ban "armor-piercing ammunition." Since
any rifle caliber more powerful than a .22 will pierce soft body
armor, Kennedy's amendment was necessarily broad. While Kennedy
specifically mentioned .30-30 ammunition, the amendment would
have banned nearly every rifle caliber on the market.
In the end, because of the efforts of
Feinstein, Schumer, Kennedy, John Kerry, and others, the Lawful
Commerce in Firearms Act was killed. The frivolous lawsuits will
continue to drain millions of dollars from gun manufacturers for
the criminal misuse of their products, and raise prices for those
of us who buy guns legally.
John Kerry can stage all the photo-ops
for gun owners he wants, but actions speak louder than words.
Today John Kerry voted to ban more guns and ammunition. He voted
to allow the baseless lawsuits against gun manufacturers to continue.
Thanks, Senator Kerry. With friends like
you, gun owners don't need many more enemies.
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