Over the past weeks and months, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to fellow hunters and shooters about Barack Obama, his positions on guns and his views about conservation, global warming and public lands. These issues are intertwined in this election and, from what I am hearing, hunters and shooters have an increasing sense that Obama gets it.
I’m also seeing a lot more about this in the traditional media and from respected allies. Montana’s Senator, Jon Tester, knows Barack Obama and has talked to him about the gun issue:
"I've got to tell you, I've talked to Barack. I think he understands the issue much better than before," Tester said in a conference call with reporters from Denver. "I am one of those guys who likes my guns, to be honest with you."
More from Senator Tester:
Tester said that Obama was very clear with him.
"He told me flat out, 'I'm not taking your guns away and don't let anybody tell you that I will,'" Tester recalled. "This campaign does not need to be about fear, this guy is not going to take away your guns."
I trust Jon Tester’s judgment over Wayne LaPierre and Grover Norquist any day.
Trust me, the gun lobby will continue to misrepresent Obama’s record. I’m hearing they’ve already started to spend money on anti-Obama radio ads. That’s what they do. What else should we expect from the leadership of the NRA, which is so closely allied with the leaders of the right wing? Grover Norquist isn’t on the NRA board because he’s concerned about hunting. He, like the other NRA leaders, are concerned about partisan politics.
Jon Tester made another very important point that I have said repeatedly and will continue to hammer away at:
Tester also said that Obama has an edge over McCain with hunters because the Democrat will do a better job of protecting public lands and open space.
Those are our issues in 2008. The recent Supreme Court decision in the D.C. gun ban case gave gun owners what we needed – constitutional protection from gun confiscation. That means we can now focus on critical issues like public lands and open space. The NRA has supported the Bush administration’s anti-wildnerness agenda. NRA Board Member/Senator Larry Craig led the charge in Congress against the Roadless Rule, which would protect national forests from development. The NRA leaders have been too cozy with the corporate interests that rule the GOP. Hunters have been left out.
So, quick review: Obama isn’t going to take our guns. He is going to protect our lands. That works for me – and it’s working for my fellow hunters and shooters who are focused on the issues that matter to us.