One of the biggest winners in Tuesday's elections was the National Rifle Association. Almost all of the newly elected Republican Senators and Representatives are pro-gun.
One of the few Democrats to survive the massacre was John Hickenlooper in Colorado, who narrowly defeated Bob Beauprez. But don't look to him to defend the gun laws passed in the last session of the Colorado legislature. Denver Post reported:
"...He also acknowledged that he is making adjustments after missteps in his current term. 'We are going to make a much stronger effort to hear all sides,' he said.
"And he plans to re-establish his moderate province after a Democratic legislature pushed him uncomfortably into partisan terrain in past sessions."
The "uncomfortable partisan terrain" most likely refers to the gun control measures that led to the recalls of Senators John Morse and Angela Giron.
Those seats were reclaimed by the Democrats in Tuesday's voting but, as of late Wednesday, it still wasn't clear whether the Democrats would retain control of either the state senate or house of representatives.
Colorado's newest Senator, Cory Gardner, is "A" rated by the NRA. Their endorsement said: "...Gardner has strongly opposed the Obama-Bloomberg gun control agenda, including their so-called “universal” background check system that would criminalize the private transfer of a firearm between life-long friends and many family members... .
"He also opposes any treaty by the United Nations or any other global organization that would impose restrictions on American gun owners."
While the GOP doesn't have veto-proof majorities in either chamber (assuming the Democrats show up to vote), it does have enough to ensure that new gun control legislation won't even make it to the floor for a vote.
Bobby Rush easily won re-election in Chicago, so the Blair Holt Bill will be reintroduced. It will then be sent to the same House committee it has been sent to every time Rush has introduced it where it will quietly disappear. Carolyn McCarthy retired but her 4th District seat was retained by the Democrats. However, the Democrats they lost the 1st District seat to a Republican who defeated a six-term incumbent.
Today, I received a letter from Chris Cox, the executive director of the NRA's lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action, and I wanted to share it with you.
Because, while I opposed the universal background checks and renewal of the assault weapons ban, this also means there's little chance that good legislation to clamp down on irresponsible gun owners that fail to secure their firearms will even be introduced. The same is true for legislation to expand protections for victims of domestic violence. There's also little hope for legislation requiring gun owners to complete a course in firearm safety. None of these will prevent another Sandy Hook, but they could cut down on the number of children injured or killed by adult negligence and the number of battered women killed by violent ex-boyfriends or ex-spouses. Even an ardent Second Amendment supporter could find value in that.
Dear NRA friends,
At the beginning of this year, I asked you and your fellow NRA members to help win the most important election in our freedom’s history.
We knew it wouldn't be easy.
We knew we’d be fighting against more anti-gun money and more anti-gun hatred than we’ve ever experienced in any election. We knew we’d be going up against mainstream media elitists who have all but declared war on our Second Amendment freedom. And we knew we’d be going toe-to-toe against the most anti-gun president we’ve ever seen.
But YOU answered the call. YOU chose to Stand and Fight for your freedom.
And yesterday, thanks to YOU and YOUR support, we sent a clear message to Washington, D.C. and politicians at every level of government that they have just two choices:
Defend our Second Amendment freedom, or face the consequences on Election Day!
Nearly everywhere you look on the map – Arkansas, Colorado, West Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Wisconsin, Texas, Kentucky, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Idaho – the pro-gun candidates we endorsed through NRA’s Political Victory Fund won big races over their anti-gun opponents.
In Maryland, we played an instrumental role in CRUSHING Barack Obama and Michael Bloomberg’s gun ban candidate for governor!
The results speak for themselves. In nearly every close race, and even in some races that weren’t predicted to be close, YOUR leadership as an NRA member made all the difference.
Thanks to you, we were able to expand our influence in this year’s election fight by putting more resources into more races.
Thanks to you, we were able to put more volunteer boots on the ground, distribute more pro-gun campaign literature, make more phone calls, and do everything we HAD to do to WIN a pro-Second Amendment majority in Congress.
And thanks to you, Barack Obama and Michael Bloomberg are surveying the political landscape today with the full knowledge that their anti-gun policies and anti-gun money were a liability for candidates across the country.
Make no mistake: This victory belongs to YOU.
Now, we both know that the months and year ahead will still bring many challenges for our Second Amendment freedom.
Barack Obama is a dangerous president. He never has to face another election, he has nothing to lose, and we can fully expect him to abuse his power and circumvent Congress to get what he wants.
Michael Bloomberg is still committed to using his multibillion-dollar bank account as a bludgeon against our gun rights.
Those fights will come, but today, you and I have a reason to celebrate.
And again, I can’t thank you enough for your loyal support and tireless leadership throughout this campaign season.
You fought for it. You earned it. And you deserve the credit for a job well done.
Sincerely,
Chris
Chris W. Cox
Executive Director, NRA Institute for Legislative Action
Chairman, NRA Political Victory Fund