What impact, if any, will the transformational 2006 Congressional
Election have on Second Amendment rights?
While election 2006 may have been a referendum on many things (the
President, war in Iraq, Jack Abramoff, Mark Foley for example), it
does not translate into greater support for gun control at the grass
roots level.
If anything, gun control was notable as a non-issue in this election.
In compiling the GOA rating, researchers could hardly find a
congressional candidate with any stated position on gun control on
campaign websites.
That's not to say many of the newly elected will not support the
anti-gun agenda; just that they recognize open support for gun
control will cost them at the polls.
Unlike the newly elected members, however, the Democrat Congressional
leadership is completely beholden to the far left anti-gun extreme of
its party.
House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (F-rated by GOA) is a charter member
of the most extreme wing of the party she now leads. As the person
who controls what bills come to the floor, Pelosi will be unable to
say "No" to the appeals for more gun control by the likes of Sarah
Brady and her congressional allies.
The Speaker's strongest House ally in the push for more gun control
is long-time Democrat anti-gun activist John Conyers, the likely
Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
Almost all bills related to the Second Amendment will pass through
Conyers' committee. The new Chairman, an extremist who advocates a
total handgun ban, will control the schedule of the committee as well
as which bills come up for committee vote.
The situation in the Senate may be worse (pending the outcome of the
Virginia senate race). Should Democrat Jim Webb hang on to win, the
expected new Senate Majority will be F-rated Harry Reid (NV) and the
probable incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee would be
GOA F-rated Pat Leahy of Vermont
From there it really goes downhill.
The rest of the Democrats currently on the committee make up the
Who's Who of the anti-gun movement:
* Ted Kennedy (MA), the mouthpiece for Sarah Brady in the Senate;
* Joe Biden (DE), who chaired the Judiciary Committee when the Brady
bill passed in 1993, and who said at that time, famously, "The public
and the Congress have spoken unequivocally, and I don't care what a
minority wants;"
* Herb Kohl (WI), author of the "Gun Free Zones Ban;"
* Dianne Feinstein (CA), author of the so-called "Assault Weapons"
ban;
* Russ Feingold (WI), democrat lead sponsor of so-called campaign
finance reform;
* Charlie Schumer (NY), lead sponsor of the 1993 Brady law; and,
* Dick Durbin (IL), one of the most outspoken gun control zealots in
the Senate.
Gun owners should look twice at the above list. Most or all of these
members will remain on the Judiciary Committee when the new Congress
convenes in January, and will help shape American gun laws for at
least the next two years.
Gun Owner Victories
There were several bright spots for gun owners this election. The
210th Congress will include the following "A rated" members who had
the support of Gun Owners of America's Political Action Committee:
Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Bill Sali (R-ID), Vern Buchanan (R-FL) Peter
Roskam (R-IL), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Adrian
Smith (R-NE), and Jim Jordan (R-OH).
With the exception of Buchanan, who has not held elected office, each
of these new representatives have strong, proven pro-gun records in
their respective state legislatures. In addition, Reps. Roskam,
Walberg, Smith and Jordan are a vast improvement over the Republicans
they are replacing.
Further, many of the incumbent Republicans who were defeated were not
pro-gun. For example, Nancy Johnson (CT), Jim Leach (IA), Clay Shaw
(FL), Curt Weldon (PA), and Charlie Bass (NH) were not strong gun
rights supporters.
In the Senate, ousted Republican Mike DeWine of Ohio was as anti-gun
as Charlie Schumer. The same can be said for Lincoln Chafee (R-RI).
Democrat Senators-elect Jon Tester (MT), and Bob Casey (PA), as well
as Jim Webb, claim to be pro-gun. It remains to be seen if they vote
that way.
The bottom line: On a race-by-race basis, the pro-gun movement
suffered a net loss of only a small handful of seats.
However, notwithstanding widespread calls for moderation within their
ranks, the Democrat leadership in the House and Senate will
unquestionably put gun owners on the defensive by seeking to renew
the so-called assault weapons ban, close down gun shows, and
drastically expand the Brady gun control law.
Many thanks to Gun Owners of America for this analysis.
Just in case you didn't know ... research by criminologist Gary
Kleck found as many as 2.5 million defensive or protective uses of guns each year in
the U.S. “[T]he best available evidence indicates that guns were used
about three to five times as often for defensive purposes as for
criminal purposes,” Kleck concluded. His research also indicates that most of those incidents end without a single shot being fired. In fact, in only 1% of instances are criminals wounded, and in only 0.1% are criminals killed. 
The 109th Congress has provided gun owners with some tremendous victories-including passage of the "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act" in 2005, and in October, legislation to prohibit the confiscation of lawfully owned firearms during states of emergency--to name just a few. 
A Knox County, TN commissioner did not let a gunman rob his business. Instead he pulled out his own gun. Check out the full details in the linked article below.
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