Duncan Hunter on Gun Issues

Knoxville, TN (TLS). Ever since U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter, R-CA, announced his candidacy for the Republican Presidential nomination, The Liberty Sphere has been taking a periodic look at the candidate's stand on various issues.

Today we look at Hunter's stand on gun issues, the Second Amendment, the use of firearms, and the freedom of Americans to manufacturer and use ammunition.

Very few politicians in Washington or anywhere else can match Duncan Hunter's record on the issue of gun-and-ammo rights. As we have mentioned before, our favorite 2nd Amendment advocacy group, Gun Owners of America, has given Hunter the rare grade of 'A+' on gun issues.

In addition, the NRA has also given Hunter the rating of 'A+.'

While we have all the respect in the world for the NRA, it is actually much more difficult to attain Gun Owners of America's grade of A+ than it is to get the same rating from the NRA. We support both groups, but Gun Owners of America's standards are very tough when it comes to their perfect rating of A+.

What this means, of course, is that among citizens elected to public office within the United States, Duncan Hunter is part of an elite group of fierce defenders of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which recognizes and protects the right of individual citizens to keep and bear arms.

An important adjunct in the support of the 2nd Amendment is the support of the right to purchase ammunition for firearms without restriction. The Second Amendment is rendered null and void if politicians load up the U.S. Code and local laws with needless restrictions on the manufacturers of gun ammunition.

The politicians know this. Thus, their attempt to negate the 2nd Amendment by making it nearly illegal or impossible to manufacture and buy ammo is an underhanded, sleazy attempt to subvert the U.S. Constitution by the 'backdoor method.' This is one of the reasons why the forces of anti-freedom, such as the Brady Bunch and N.Y.C. Mayor Bloomberg, are targeting the manufacturers of ammunition.

Duncan Hunter is one politician that understand this and has a clear voting record of opposing attempts by the Left to pass restrictions on the manufacture and sale of bullets and other ammo.

Here is a small sampling of Hunter's votes on gun-related issues:

*Voted YES on prohibiting product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers. (Oct 2005)
*Voted YES on prohibiting suing gunmakers & sellers for gun misuse.(Apr 2003)
*Voted YES on decreasing gun waiting period from 3 days to 1. (Jun 1999)

The Liberty Sphere still views Duncan Hunter as the most attractive candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination. We are encouraged that over the past few weeks two high-profile conservatives have indicated the willingness to consider entering the race--Fred Thompson and Newt Gingrich. Both of these candidates would be formidable against Democrats.

However, we still think that Duncan Hunter's views best represent ours and the majority of most Reagan conservatives. The only hurdle he faces is the monumental task of fund-raising. This is due to nothing more than the lack of name recognition.

Although the name recognition issue can be overcome in short order if one has the funds, Hunter will need to raise 100 million dollars by January 1, 2008 in order to overcome this handicap and mount a viable and competitive campaign against the heavy war-chests of Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Mitt Romney.

The Liberty Sphere is willing to give Hunter a shot in order to see if the candidate gains the broad-based appeal to raise that 100 million bucks. It's still a long way to Jan. 1, but this is a lot of money. It is time for Hunter's financial supporters to break out the checkbooks so that the candidate can take his campaign up to the next level.