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Thursday, January 17, 2008
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They love their guns in South Carolina
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Posted: January 17, 2008
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Sandy Froman
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© 2008
With a divided GOP field going into South Carolina, voters have a chance to make the Second Amendment an issue in this election. And they should.
South Carolina holds a distinctive place in our presidential nominating process. As the first in the South primary, its focus on faith, family values, military service and American traditions makes it one of the most conservative states in the country.
Anyone who's ever campaigned in South Carolina will tell you that it's worlds apart from many other parts of the country. And while Second Amendment rights are a sizeable factor in many states' elections, in South Carolina you cannot win a general election if you're seen as hostile to firearm freedoms.
That's in general elections. In the GOP primary, you don't even want to show your face in a crowd of Republicans if you aren't ready to protect their gun rights.
The electorate has been changing in South Carolina over the past 10 years or so. More and more people are retiring there, many from Northeastern states. As a result, issues like retirement are looming larger, and Southern political issues are becoming less crucial.
But even in this changing landscape, conservative social issues are still enormously important – and enough GOP primary voters make the Second Amendment a top voting issue that a candidate cornering the gun vote could have a critical mass to win the South Carolina primary this Saturday.
South Carolina voters must vote freedom first.
This is especially important because the Bush administration Justice Department just filed a brief in the Supreme Court gun ban case of District of Columbia v. Heller that fails to recognize that the Second Amendment is a fundamental right. The brief, filed Friday, asks the Court to give the right to keep and bear arms a lower level of protection than it gives free speech, religious liberty and other rights of the people that are contained in the Bill of Rights.
South Carolina Republicans should demand that the candidates talk about this disturbing development, and should factor it into their vote.
Both Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson have a perfect record for supporting Second Amendment rights. They've both talked about that in South Carolina and should make an issue of this latest development.
All of the candidates should add their position about the Justice Department's brief to their stump speech and use it to talk about the importance of having good judges on the federal bench.
It's well-known John McCain has disagreed with gun owners at times. These disputes have been over campaign finance reform and McCain's efforts to impose special restrictions on gun shows beyond the restrictions that apply for gun sales everywhere else. Before that, McCain had been a reliable defender of the Second Amendment. And in recent years he helped stop reauthorization of the Clinton gun ban, cosponsored the NRA bill to end junk lawsuits against gun makers, and also cosponsored federal legislation to repeal the D.C. gun ban that is at issue in the Heller case. McCain could help himself by talking about this issue and telling voters what he would look for in a Supreme Court appointment.
Mitt Romney really must take this opportunity to explain exactly where he stands on the Second Amendment. He angered gun owners in December by endorsing and promising to sign into law the Clinton gun ban and the Brady Bill on "Meet the Press." Those were two of the worst anti-gun laws in American history. He should forcefully take a stand on this Justice Department brief, and while he's at it he should retract his support for these anti-gun laws.
This also gives a unique opportunity to Rudy Giuliani. No GOP candidate has been historically weaker on the Second Amendment than the former NYC mayor. At the same time, however, he's been promising to appoint judges to the federal courts who revere and will respect the language of the Constitution. Now that the D.C. v. Heller case has put the Second Amendment squarely in front of the Supreme Court, Giuliani should go after the Justice Department's brief and take a stand. Many gun owners think he's not much better than Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama on the Second Amendment. Here's his chance to make his case to gun owners. Giuliani has already said that the District of Columbia Circuit Court was right to strike down the D.C. gun ban in this case, so it shouldn't be a stretch for him to criticize publicly the Justice Department's request to send the case back down to the Circuit Court for a "do-over."
The Justice Department's brief is terribly disappointing to gun owners. And as the good people of South Carolina are deciding who they would like as our next president, South Carolina Republicans should be asking candidates about this issue and demanding answers that identify candidates who support our civil rights.
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