During Barack’s career in the Illinois and United States senates, he proudly stood to defend the rights of hunters and sportsmen while doing everything he could to protect children — including his own two daughters — from illegal gun violence.
But the NRA-ILA is distributing a dishonest and cowardly flyer that makes confrontational accusations and runs away from verifying them, pushing deceptive claims without the facts to back them up. Readers have to look on a web page to find the supposed facts behind these disgraceful attacks, but the “proof” falls very short.
The non-partisan Factcheck.org has even demonstrated how shameful the NRA’s deception is:
The NRA, however, simply dismisses Obama’s stated position as “rhetoric” and substitutes its own interpretation of his record as a secret “plan.” Said an NRA spokesman: “We believe our facts.“… [T]he NRA has cherry-picked, twisted and misrepresented Obama’s record to come up with a bogus “plan.”
Barack has clearly spelled out his position on guns to Field & Stream:
“I am very mindful of the fact that sportsmen in America may have gone hunting with their fathers, their grandfathers, their mothers, their grandmothers, and that this is part of a tradition and a way of life that has to be preserved. And there’s nothing that I will do as president of the United States that will in any way encroach on the ability of sportsmen to continue that tradition.”
Barack Obama addresses gun rights and receives the endorsement of Ray Shoenke Washington Redskin great and President of the American Hunters and Shooters Association
Watch our TV ad touting Barack's support of the second amendment and gun rights.
Sportsmen for Obama Radio Ad:
THE FACTS
- Find out more about Barack Obama’s position on guns: CLICK HERE
- The Washington Post and Factcheck.org debunk the NRA’s slanderous and misleading statements. The Washington Post gave the NRA ad “three Pinocchios,” saying “While it is true that Obama favors tighter gun laws, it is a huge stretch to argue that he wants to take away the guns and ammunition most commonly used by hunters.” [SOURCE: Washington Post 9/23/08; FactCheck.org 9/22/08; CQ Politics 7/20/08]
- The Report Card: NRA Ad Gets ‘F.’
F: To the National Rifle Association for its ad campaign twisting Barack Obama’s position on the Second Amendment beyond recognition. The NRA cooked up almost out of whole cloth an Obama “10 Point Plan to ‘Change’ the Second Amendment” that runs almost entirely counter to the candidate’s position. Truth in campaign ad sites operated by PolitiFact, run by the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly, and at The Washington Post, slammed the campaign. The Post gave the effort a rating of “Three Pinocchios,’’ which translates to ads containing “Significant factual error and/or obvious contradictions,’’ while PolitiFact branded it with the “Pants on Fire’’ designation. For the record, this newspaper supports the Second Amendment and the rights of individuals to own firearms and recognizes the long tradition of hunting in these mountains. We’d also add people can feel free to vote against Obama, but ought to be making that decision on facts, not fairy tales. We would also point out this stunt was pulled by the NRA and not the McCain campaign. [SOURCE: Citizen-Times 9/29/08]- Barack Obama will protect your gun rights. Obama believes that hunters, shooters, collectors, and other law-abiding Americans have the right to purchase, own, transport, and use guns responsibly. He respects the rights of individual Americans to hunt, target shoot, and use guns to protect their families. “I believe there is a Second Amendment right. I think it is an individual right. I think people have the right to lawfully bear arms.” [SOURCE: OFA policy statement; Obama press conference, Watertown SD 5/16/08; CBS News 9/05/08; Obama on CNN 6/25/08; Obama Bloomberg Interview, 6/26/08]
- Barack Obama embodies America’s traditional values. Born to a single parent in a working-class home, Barack pulled himself up by the bootstraps, working and taking on loans to make his way through school. He achieved the American dream when he married Michelle and completed the family with two young daughters. During his time in public service, Barack has worked hard to protect his daughters from illegal guns and make the streets and sidewalks of America safer for all American children. Barack has always had the courage to stand up for what he thought was right, driven by integrity and a common-sense approach to make America’s communities safer, stronger, and more prosperous. [SOURCE: http://www.barackobama.com/learn/meet_barack.php]
- Barack Obama’s plan for America does not propose a new tax on guns or ammunition. [SOURCE: OFA policy statements; Washington Post, 9/23/08]
- The American Hunters and Shooters Association and other prominent sportsmen have endorsed Obama. AHSA president Ray Schoenke says, ”Senator Obama will be a strong and authentic voice for America’s hunters and shooters and it is with great pleasure that we endorse his candidacy.” [SOURCE: OFA policy statement; Reuters 4/16/08; New West 7/09/08; Sportsmen for Barack Obama; Missoulian 4/24/08]
- Prominent Montana sportsmen have endorsed Obama: “As Montanans who take advantage of our state’s unique hunting and fishing opportunities, we believe strongly that the next president must respect our right to own and use guns, expand access to public lands, reward private landowners who open their lands to sportsmen and protect the habitats that make our state so rich in wildlife. We believe Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is the leader who will best represent sportsmen on these non-negotiable issues.” [SOURCE: Missoulian 4/24/08]
- Obama is against confiscating guns. Obama voted with the majority of the U.S. Senate to prohibit the confiscation of firearms during an emergency, protecting the rights of lawful Americans to defend their homes and families. Obama also voted to allow retired police officers and military personnel to carry concealed firearms. [SOURCE: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.05013; 93rd GA, SB 2188, 3/26/04, 3R P; 40-13-1]
- Barack Obama voted to allow the Attorney General to regulate armor-piercing cop-killer bullets, not to restrict ammunition used for hunting. The bill’s sponsor even said the bill was not intended to cover hunting ammunition. The bill would have only authorized the attorney general to define types of illegal ammunition capable of penetrating body armor commonly used by law enforcement officials. [SOURCE: S 397, Vote 217, 7/29/05, Failed 31-64, D:30-13, R:1-50, I:0-1; S 397, Vote 216, 7/29/05, Passed 87-11, D:33-11, R:53-0, I:1-0; FactCheck.org 9/22/08; Washington Post 9/23/08]
- Obama supports the rights and traditions of sportsmen and will provide incentives to farmers and ranchers who voluntarily open their land to hunting.[SOURCE: OFA policy statement]
- Barack Obama supports commonsense measures that can help us keep guns from falling into the hands of criminals, the mentally ill, and terrorists. These measures include ensuring effective reporting of trace data that can be used to track the flow of guns used in crimes and requiring background checks on purchasers at gun shows by closing the gun show loophole, which has been exploited by everyone from the Columbine High School shooters to terrorists. [SOURCE: OFA policy statement]
- Obama believes in America’s tradition on responsible hunting. He believes hunting rifles belong in the wilderness with America’s hunters, but also believes we need to keep AK-47s off our city streets. Obama supports the federal Assault Weapons Ban, which would keep assault weapons on our battlefields and off our streets. [SOURCE: OFA policy statements; http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.1022]