Sportsmen For Bush
Where The Candidates Stand on Firearm Freedom.
President Bush’s Record on Supporting Responsible Gun Ownership
President Bush’s is the first Administration in over 60 years to publicly take the position in briefs filed with the Supreme Court that the Second Amendment protects a personal, individual right to bear arms.
In November 2001, the Attorney General sent a memorandum to all United States Attorneys supporting the view that the Second Amendment “protects the right of individuals, including those not then actually a member of the militia or engaged in active military service or training, to privately posses and bear their own firearms.”
In briefs filed by the Department of Justice in Emerson v. United States and Haney v. United States, the Administration stated that “[t]he current position of the United States … is that the Second Amendment more broadly protects the rights of individuals, including persons who are not members of any militia or engaged in active military service or training, to possess and bear their own firearms.”
Vice President Cheney, speaking at the NRA's 133rd annual meeting, said President Bush's executive branch "understands that the Second Amendment affirms more than a symbolic principle. It states, after all, the the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. This means, as the attorney general has stated unequivocally, that law-abiding citizens of the United States have the individual right to own a firearm."
Also speaking to the NRA meeting, Vice President Cheney said President Bush is the only one of the two candidates who "has shown you respect, earned your vote, and appreciates your support."
President Bush strongly supported passage of S. 1805, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.
The bill would have put an end to frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers that seek to hold manufacturers liable for the criminal misconduct of others. Although such lawsuits have no merit, for manufacturers to defend against them is very costly. Those costs are passed on to gun purchasers in the form of higher prices, and also threaten to put some manufacturers out of business, making some gun models unavailable.
President Bush issued a press release urging Congress to enact a clean bill, without amendments that would delay or defeat it. Senator Kerry and his colleagues ignored his plea, and ended up killing the bill.
President Bush has substantially increased the enforcement of existing gun laws by instituting Project Safe Neighborhoods, a cooperative state-federal partnership targeting gun crime.
The Administration has committed over $901 million through Project Safe Neighborhoods to hire hundreds of state and federal prosecutors specifically devoted to gun crime, support investigators, hire new ATF agents, and provide related training. [SOURCE: www.projectsafeneighborhoods.gov/about.asp(visited 3/29/2004)]
Project Safe Neighborhoods works: During the three years that Project Safe Neighborhoods has been in effect, there has been a 62 percent increase in defendants charged with firearms-related crimes, and a 21 percent reduction in the violent crime victimization rate. [SOURCE: DOJ Press Release, December 11, 2003]
Individuals committing gun crimes are doing real jail time, and the jail time is serving as a real deterrent. Under Project Sage Neighborhoods, 71% of convicted defendants were sentenced to more than three years in prison, and over half were sentenced to more than five years. These statistics mean that violent criminals are being kept off the streets… and the word is out on the street that if you commit a gun crime, you’ll do hard time. [SOURCE:www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2003/013003psnfactsheet.htm]
Under President Bush, the Department of Justice has greatly increased the availability of instant background checks, and ensured that background check records are destroyed in a timely fashion as required by law.
At the direction of the Attorney General, two technological innovations have been applied to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), increasing the “immediate determination rate” to 91 percent in 2003 (from 71 percent in 2001). [SOURCE: FBI NICS Operation Report, pg. 24, May 2003]
The Brady Act prohibits using NICS to “establish any system for the registration of firearms, firearm owners, or firearm … dispositions.” P.L. 103-159 § 102(i). It also requires NICS to “destroy all records” of any background check that does not flag a prohibited transaction. Id. § 102(b). Yet the Clinton Justice Department was keeping the records for 180 days before destroying them, and even issued an opinion allowing the records to be used for law enforcement purposes.
Under the Bush Administration, the Attorney General properly ordered that the law be enforced, and that the records be destroyed immediately. Recently passed congressional legislation now supports the Attorney General’s directive. [SOURCE:http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/HallsOfJustice/hallsofjustice84.html] [SOURCE:www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/7802097.htm].
President Bush was endorsed by the NRA-PVF in 2000.
John Kerry on 2nd Amendment Rights and Issues Important to Hunters
Kerry received an “F” rating from National Rifle Association In 2002. (Candidates on Guns web site, Project of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, www.csgv.org/issues/elections/kerry_voting.cfm, Accessed 2/9/04)
Kerry believes in federal gun control and doesn’t “Want to be the candidate of the NRA in this country.” (Fox News’ “Special Report with Brit Hume,” 10/31/03; CNN’s “News Night with Aaron Brown,” 11/6/03)
Kerry said “Handguns are too accessible.” (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 4/24/96, p. S4070)
John Kerry has voted with Coalition To Stop Gun Violence 100% of the time. (Candidates on Guns website, Project of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, : www.csgv.org/issues/elections/kerry_voting.cfm, Accessed 2/9/04)
John Kerry received a 0% rating with Gun Owners of America in 2002. (Candidates on Guns web site, Project of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, www.csgv.org/issues/elections/kerry_voting.cfm, Accessed 2/9/04)
Kerry received 100%+ rating from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) - one of the most anti-hunting groups in the country. (Humane Scorecard Midterm report on the 108th Congress 2/2004 http://65.61.158.165/web-files/PDF/GOVT_Humane_Scorecard_2003.pdf)
The choice is clear - November 2nd Vote for President George W. Bush.
This web site was created by a concerned firearm owner and was not authorized or coordinated with any candidate, candidate committee, or the NRA.
