Barr ’08

The NRA has responded to Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s recent comments, which some have taken to be somewhat of an endorsement for Bob Barr:

A top official with the National Rifle Association said Wednesday the Barack Obama campaign is trying to mislead voters about his past support of gun control, calling the Democratic candidate “a poster child of the extremist, elitist gun control movement.”

Chris W. Cox, the NRA’s chief lobbyist, said he was responding to recent comments made by Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a gun-loving Democrat who has earned the group’s backing in his re-election bid.

Schweitzer told reporters this week that Obama “ain’t ever going to take your gun away” and suggested there was little difference between the Democrat and Republican John McCain. The NRA said Schweitzer was misrepresenting the candidates’ positions.

“To somehow suggest (Obama) is supportive of gun owners because he says so when he is in Montana running for president is absurd,” Cox said in a telephone interview from Virginia. “We are going to make sure that anybody that tells Montana gun owners that Barack Obama is not a threat to gun owners is exposed as someone who is not shooting straight.”

Cox said, while the NRA disagrees with Schweitzer’s opinion, the group has no plans to take back its endorsement of the governor, who is up for re-election in November.

Schweitzer said Wednesday that he stands by his comments, which included the assertion that people who vote solely on the gun issue may look to Libertarian candidate Bob Barr in November. Barr has earned an “A” from the NRA, while McCain had received a “C” and Obama an “F.”

“I don’t hand out these report cards around here,” Schweitzer said. “Barr has an A or A+, and neither of the other candidates do. That is the point I was making, and I stand by it.”

Cox also acknowledges that McCain has been at odds with the NRA at times. But the “C” grade the NRA has given McCain only tells half the story. The NRA once called John McCain, “one of the premier flag carriers for the enemies of the Second Amendment.” The NRA’s own judgment of McCain’s records seems to be somewhat at odds with their lashing out at Gov. Schweitzer.

Why vote for someone on the issue with a questionable record, like Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama? Instead of wrangling over the question, the NRA and voters should look at the evidence laid out by Gov. Schweitzer and see for themselves that Bob Barr has the strongest record on the Second Amendment.