Via the Buckeye Firearms Association:
The most recent issue of the National Shooting Sports Foundation newsletter, Bullet Points, observes that the faux gun group known as American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA), has endorsed the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court Justice.
As former NRA President Sandy Froman recently pointed out, Sotomayor has a narrow view of the Second Amendment that contradicts the Court’s landmark decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. Froman says “Sotomayor’s view on the Second Amendment clearly reflects an extreme anti-gun philosophy.”
“… the faux gun group known as American Hunters and Shooters Association”? How can someone with such a gun-friendly name be, in fact, anti-gun?
Says John Lott:
American Hunters and Shooters Association’s (AHSA) president, John E. Rosenthal, is also the founder of Stop Handgun Violence, Inc.
Stop Handgun Violence is credited with lobbying and subsequently helping to pass the licensing and registration system in place in the state of Massachusetts. Stop Handgun Violence has supported every anti-second amendment rights bill since the organizations creation, and is the personal pet anti-gun group of the Democrats. And yet it’s founder, Rosenthal, was a president of AHSA, an organization that supposedly supports the right to keep and bear arms?
More:
Its domain name: http://www.huntersandshooters.com was registered on 25-Apr-05 by Registrant:DCS – Internet Advocacy Group, 600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, suite 200, Washington, District of Columbia
The PR Firm called DCS- Internet Advocacy Group http://dcscongressional.com/ is located at: 600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, suite 200, Washington, District of Columbia 20003
The Democrat Leadership Council http://www.dlc.org/
is located at: 600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, suite 400, Washington, District of Columbia 20003 As listed on their website and on their domain name registration.So ALL three groups:The Democrat leadership council (DLC) , DCS – Internet Advocacy Group and The American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) Are located in the same building …
Hmmm, could it be that the Democrat Leadership Council simply “created” the American Hunters and Shooters Association to trot out at their next anti-gun rally?
While the AHSA claims to be a non-partisan organization, the AHSA has only endorsed Democratic candidates.
More:
The AHSA press person, Dan Drummond, appears to be a familiar name in Virginia Democratic circles:
Dan Drummond
Chairman, Fairfax City Democratic Committee
dan@fairfaxcitydemocrats.org
703-218-4090
and
The web site huntersandshooters.com is presently (8-5-2005) registered through GoDaddy.com to one Robert Ricker at a PO box in Frederick, MD.
Ricker has indeed shown up to give anti-gun testimony before legislative committees in Annapolis.
The AHSA describes itself as “… a national grassroots organization committed to safe and responsible gun ownership” and “… a mainstream group of hunters who are looking to belong to a gun owners association that doesn’t have a radical agenda.” Yet according to information from a 2005 deposition, the group had fewer than 150 dues paying individual members, hardly a national grassroots organization.
And numerous ASHA officials have testified in favor of gun control legislation in numerous jurisdictions, completely contrary to what the Secomd Amendment states.
Ray Schoenke is listed as the Founding President. Schoenke ran for Governor of Maryland as a Democrat and has given millions to Democratic politicians and causes according to a Washington Post article. Among the groups that Schoenke has donated to are two that actively lobby to ban firearms: Handgun Control, Inc. and America Coming Together. Schoenke was on the Governor’s Commission on Gun Violence in 1996. Doesn’t sound like someone that would support the Second Amendment, huh?
Schoenke also maintains a “diary” at the Daily Kos blog (I do not link there), probably the most left-wing online political community in existence.
Paul Helmke, the President of the Brady Campaign, says of the AHSA, “I see our issues as complementary to theirs”. The Brady Campaign wants to remove guns from the hands of just about everyone except the police and military. Therefore I cannot see how the AHSA is going to defend my Constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms.
Says the NRA:
AHSA was created with the specific intent to provide political cover for anti-gun politicians by allowing them to claim support from a “sportsmen’s” group. In truth, the anti-gun credentials of AHSA’s leadership is well documented. For instance, AHSA president Ray Schoenke has a long history of giving political donations to some of the most anti-gun politicians, including Al Gore, John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, Bill Clinton, Dianne Feinstein and Ted Kennedy. In 2000, Schoenke donated $5,000 to Handgun Control, Inc. (now the Brady Campaign) and the Ray and Holly Schoenke Foundation also made donations to the Brady Campaign. AHSA Board member John Rosenthal remains the leader of Stop Handgun Violence, the Massachusetts anti-gun group. And one of the leading organizers of AHSA is Bob Ricker, who has been a paid expert witness against gun manufacturers in a number of reckless lawsuits.
AHSA would be more correctly called the “American Association for the Protection of Anti-Gun Politicians.” No gun owner or sportsman should fall prey to its carefully crafted lies and deceptions.
Why do I bring all this up? Bear with me as I try to wrap this up.
First, the ASHA is no friend of the right to keep and bear arms. Therefore their support of Sotomayor tells me a lot about what she thinks of the Second Amendment.
Second, the AHSA endorsed Barack Obama for President of the US. In a statement on the AHSA website titled “Obama: He ‘gets it,’” Schoenke announced the endorsement, saying that Senator Obama`s voting record has clearly demonstrated his commitment to the Second Amendment.
- Obama supports a ban on the resale of police issued firearms, even if the money is going to police departments for replacement equipment.
- Obama has endorsed a complete ban on handgun ownership.
- Obama was a member of the Board of Directors of the Joyce Foundation, the leading source of funds for anti-gun organizations and “research.”
- Obama voted for an Illinois State Senate bill to ban and confiscate “assault weapons,” but the bill was so poorly crafted, it would have also banned most semi-auto and single and double barrel shotguns commonly used by sportsmen.
- Obama has endorsed a 500% increase in the federal excise tax on firearms and ammunition.
- Obama voted to uphold local gun bans and the criminal prosecution of people who use firearms in self-defense.
- Obama opposes Right to Carry laws.
- Obama voted to ban almost all rifle ammunition commonly used for hunting and sport shooting.
Obama will try, during his tenure, to restrict the ability of “mere mortals” to keep and bear arms. When he does he will bring out the ASHA as “experts” in the restriction of gun rights and “common sense” gun laws. Before that happens you need to be well-aware of just who the ASHA really is … just as phony as Obama himself.
American Hunters and Shooters Association, AHSA, Sotomayor, Supreme Court, NRA, Second Amendment, Stop Handgun Violence, Ray Schoenke, Democrat, Handgun Control, Inc, Paul Helmke, Brady Campaign, anti-gun, John Rosenthal, Obama, Joyce Foundation
