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Clinton Kasich Letter on 1994 AWB

Tomorrow’s home state primary is do-or-die for Governor John Kasich. He’s let it be known that if he doesn’t beat Donald Trump, his presidential odyssey will be over. While probably the least controversial and most centrist of the four remaining candidates on the GOP side, the Gov’s taken heat for his annoying debate performances, the frequency with which he reminds us that his father was a mail man, not to mention his tonsorial presentation. But he hasn’t seemed to have received much criticism about his support for Bill Clinton’s 1994 “assault weapons” ban . . .

Kasich, naturally enough, wants to assure voters that he has sufficient respect for Americans’ gun rights. In addition to noting that he’s a gun owner, the candidate lists a few pro-2A positions on his website, including,

Removing Burdensome Restrictions for Law-Abiding Concealed Carry Licensees: John Kasich enacted legislation protecting Ohio’s concealed carry laws, including protecting the privacy of permit holders and allowing for reciprocity licenses with other states where permit holders can carry their firearms.

Opposing Barack Obama’s Gun Control Efforts: John Kasich opposes President Obama’s gun control executive orders. The Second Amendment is too important and Obama’s hostility to it is too well known for him to be allowed to go around Congress and undermine the Second Amendment. His efforts to expand the federal government’s interference with Americans’ Right to Keep and Bear Arms are wrong and the governor opposes them.

If you assume a politician’s lying any time you notice his/her lips moving, you won’t go far wrong. And maybe the Governor’s developed new respect for all the entire Bill of Rights over the years. That vote was over 20 years ago. Maybe a leopard can rearrange his spots. Anything’s possible. Right?

[h/t JD]

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59 COMMENTS

  1. Anything’s possible. Right?

    Kasich may have turned around on guns, but it doesn’t matter. He has the same chance of becoming POTUS as I do, which is to say, none whatsoever.

    If nominated I shall not run. If elected I shall demand a recount.

  2. Most of them simply do not fully understand or respect the Second Amendment: Reagan did not and the Bush’s did not.

    • http://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2016/03/14/john-kasich-goes-all-in-for-amnesty-illegals-made-in-the-image-of-the-lord/

      More reasons this leftist scumbag should never hold office.

      The RINO/Neo con/Open border/Mass legal immigration/”free” trade nonsense wing of the party is dying or dead, and being replaced by a Nationalist party that will end mass immigration, globalism, “diversity” and the eroding of our rights.

      If it focus on the following

      Secure borders
      Reduced and Capped Immigration
      Sound Money
      Restoring Gun Rights
      Restoring States Rights
      Pro American Trade Deals
      Restore Freedom of Association
      School Vouchers/Choices
      Non Interventionism

      If they do that they will have an unbeatable position. and a large number of independent and Democratic converts.

  3. If this had been revealed sooner, it might have further crippled his chances of a good showing in Ohio. Lots of hunters and gun owners in that state, similar to Michigan.

    • People who first identity as a hunter scare me. So your not a huge second amendment advocate who also likes hunting? No beef with hunters as long as there is no “I support the second amendment but…”

    • Revealed sooner? Every gun owner knows, or should know, that Kasich gave us the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban. Kasich promised that he would not vote for it, then he did. That made it a tie vote and it was thrown to Al Gore to break the tie.

      This is very well known in the gun community.

        • Yes, I know. I did mess my history up a bit, though. Gore broke the Senate 50-50 tie. But Kasich threw the House vote in favor of the Assault Weapons Bill 216-214. If Kasich hadn’t changed his mind it wouldn’t have passed the House.

          Thanks for keeping me straight. 🙂

      • Okay, “revealed” was a poor choice of words; how about “emphasized”?

        And what you “know” seems to be a little weak; not sure where you got the part about Gore being involved in it?

        (Edited, as while I was typing, someone else corrected your error)

        I consider myself pretty well-informed about gun control laws for the last 40 years (having lived-through and worked against most of them), but I wasn’t personally aware of Kasich’s reversal (perhaps because I was military, deployed overseas during that period). Even if it WAS well-publicized at the time, today we have gun-owning voters who were not yet born when that vote took place, and many of them (or others) may not have been aware of this aspect of his record, so I think the point (as modified) is still valid: this should have been EMPHASIZED more than it was.

        • Kasich promised he wouldn’t vote for the AWB, but then ended up doing it anyway. If he hadn’t the vote would have been 215-215 and not passed the House.

          As far as Gore breaking the tie vote in the Senate when he was VP, it was a different gun-control bill. Again, my bad. It’s been two decades and sometimes this anti-gun nonsense runs together in my mind.

    • In 1994 I remember very well G Gordon Liddy calling Kasich a traitor on his national radio show, for his vote on the assault weapons ban. Kasich, Bernie Sanders and anyone else who voted for the AWB is a traitor to constitution and an enemy of freedom.

      • G. Gordon called him the “Odious” John Kasich on 9.60 KGMO on his national radio show. I remember it so well because I agreed with it so much. Have seen no reason to change my mind.

    • Kasich’s vote has been public record for over twenty years. It’s been reported on in this presidential race since at leats last year when Kashich announced his candidacy. Before that, it was an issue in his race for governor going back to 2010. Everyone’s had ample awareness.

      What we need to remember is that Kasich didn’t just cast a meaningless vote inconsequential to the outcome. Kasich enthusiastically supported the bill. He was among the handful of GOP members who helped pass the bill by a wafer thin 216-214 vote margin. His vote alone made the difference in passage.

      The Columbus Dispatch quoted Kasich at the time as saying that “an overwhelming number of calls to his office were against a ban on assault weapons, but he ignored them because he knew that the ‘gun lobby’ pays people to call.” (Hmmm….I’ve called and written Congress many times, NRA. Where’s my check?)

      To his (woefully belated) credit, Kasich now says that we don’t need new laws. The problem is the criminals, not the guns. How nice. In 1994, Kasich was 42 years old. He held a B.A. in Poly Sci from Ohio State. He had been an elected lawmaker for 15 years: 11 in the U.S. Congress and four years in the Ohio State Senate before that, where he’d also been a legisative aide for another four years before that.

      This wasn’t some naive, suburban homemaker, too busy with daily life and ill-equipped to analyze the minutia of ponderous legislation. Kasich knew or should have known exactly what he was doing. Instead, he flouted the Constitution, leading the effort, and dismissed the will of the people with a sneer.

      I can’t trust his judgment on any given day. Neither can America afford to wait twenty years after each of his poor decisions for him to reaize (conveniently, while seeking higher office) the error of his ways.

    • How does Trump skate on his love for the Clintons and prior support for gun bans, but Rubio and Kasich get crucified for any past heresy? Do people have an aversion to sane candidates? Merde.

      • Trump’s not being held to the same standard, because it’s not the same people doing the judging. Kasich and Rubio have to account to real Republicans for their records. Trump appeals more to two other groups:

        1. Pop culture mavens who think this election is just a story arc in a reality T.V. show.

        2. Liberal Democrats who want to sabotage the GOP primary to nominate an easily-defeated buffoon as Hillary’s opponent.

        The bulk of his current “supporters” either won’t show up on election day in November, or will vote for Hillary then. So none of his questionable policy positions are questioned too closely.

      • Trump’s support for any gun control was as a private citizen offering an opinion. He didn’t contribute money to anti-gun groups, nor actually impose unconstitutional restrictions on people while in office.
        Rubio and Kaisch VOTED to unconstitutionally infringe upon the right of the people to keep and bear arms and broke the oath of their office.

        • Oh come on. You play the cards you’re dealt. Yes, the other guys have anti-gun votes to account for, while Trump only has publicly voiced opinions. So what? Voters still need make decisions, regardless the quality or quantity of information available. If anything, I’d say Trump should be held to an even higher standard, precisely because his past pronouncements come from opinions, not votes, and has never held office.

          It shows that when “the Donald”, ALWAYS known and self-avowed as speaking his mind, expresses a view, it isn’t colored by political considerations. It’s what he really believes. Career politicians, still with many rungs to climb to higher office, are still shaping their image and still assembling constituencies.

          Trump, however, with billions in the bank, a bombshell on each arm, and an impossible-to-get NY concealed carry permit in his pocket, can spew anti-gun invective all day with impunity. I’ll believe every single word of it. Every. Single. Word.

        • Yes, the other guys have anti-gun votes to account for, while Trump only has publicly voiced opinions. So what?
          —————–
          So what?
          First, one would expect that public officials who actually have to vote upon legislation, and thus be held accountable for their votes, would understand the issue being voted upon, better than some person simply holding an opinion.
          Second, public officials take an oath of office to uphold the Constitution. Votes that violate that oath are a far more serious breach of the public trust than someone HOLDING AN OPINION.
          Third, votes actually create laws and the ramifications thereof.
          ========================

          If anything, I’d say Trump should be held to an even higher standard, precisely because his past pronouncements come from opinions, not votes, and has never held office.
          —————————————-
          So, you think that the opinion of a private citizen holds more weight than the actual votes of public officials when weighing for whom to cast a ballot?
          That is an absurd position.

        • @Jonathan.,

          I believe every single word of it as well, except one. Which still puts him 1 ahead of Hillary.

    • How did he vote for it without being a member of congress? I do realize he supported it in other ways.

  4. I really don’t have a problem with this.

    I’m not a single issue voter and he appears to be the most thoughtful of the four. I suspect his position on firearms has shifted with the cultural landscape and he isn’t the same man he was 22 years ago. I think about my views from 1994, and laugh at the thought of voting for someone like that.

    I think my biggest confidence in him is that he seems to be the only one of the six candidates who seems to understand how sausage is made.

    • “I think my biggest confidence in him is that he seems to be the only one of the six candidates who seems to understand how sausage is made.” – Except that everything that he had said that pertains to actual numbers and facts, such as the economy, is an unsupported lie without any backing by facts whatsoever. He tells you what you want to hear, nothing more. As to issues that do not have specific facts, then its up to each individual to believe any of the claims, by anyone. I challenge you to present any statement of his, any promise, any position (on the economy) and I will prove to you that his numbers do not add up are simply taken out of thin air.

    • He all for illegal immigration, Common Core, and Kasich is in the pocket of George Soros to the tune of $202,700 in this election alone.

    • Except, firearms freedom isn’t just a single issue. It fundamentally defines the relationship between government and governed. It’s a proxy for just about every other meaningful issue.

      I can prove it. Pick any ten of a candidate’s significant firearms votes/positions over the last thirty years. Based on those, you can predict how closely your views match a candidate’s views on the majority of any other ten major issues.

      This isn’t a right/wrong answer sort of exercise, either. It just is what it is. A strong pro-2A record is going to carry over to most other issues. I suppose one might find some rare exception, but it’ll be the rare exception that proves the rule.

      • The closest I come to single issue is the secured privacy of the individual. Every one of the six, and every dropped out candidate, save Rand Paul, has made it clear that the privacy of the individual takes a back seat to the boogeyman of national security.

        Slap a Muslim on it and plenty of folks from both sides will line up to strip it away. One of the things that’s impressed me about TTAG has been the (usually) firm hold by the command staff to not let fear color their positioning.

  5. Who took a photo of the letter, and why?
    And who’s publishing it?

    If Kasich’s 2A views have evolved then why would he put this out there? And who else would have access to such a letter?

    Politics. The mind boggles.

    • Kasich archived his congressional papers at the Westerville (Ohio) Public Library, where they are available to the public as a special collection. Some opposition researcher undoubtedly found and photographed it there.

  6. You could’ve just said he’s from Ohio.

    If you live in a blue state, you may be part of the problem. If you have a (D) after your name, are a liberal_progressive_communist, or a rino, THE PROBLEM IS PART-OF-YOU. YOU ARE PERMANENTLY BROKEN AND YOUR MOM OWES US AN ABORTION.

  7. MEH…rino’s rino. Garry Shandling’s doppleganger could run dumbocrat. I’m tired of all the “evolved” talk. Ka-sick could run moderate dumbycrat-as could the orange one. They BOTH have easily checked/verified records about guns-and it ain’t good. “His sons are big hunters”(fudds?). AS easily verified as Barry Soetoro pre-2008. TED CRUZ for president.

  8. I have little doubt Trump would have voted for the same bill at the time for his chummy clinton friends. Rubio… maybe.

  9. A vote for Kasich is a vote for Mittens and later Hitlery.
    Okay, maybe not a real Mittens, but a surrogate none the less.

    • Remember a scant 4 years ago when the NRA was feeding us the load of shite about Mitt being 100% pro-2A? I get the same sick feeling when I see(or hear) rino Garry Shandling-er k-sick. Or donnie.

  10. Kasich said that the ban was an error because it didn’t improve things.

    A) Gun owners said that before the ban was voted on!

    B) In this country, the rights of an individual are not supposed to be disregarded in favor of “society.”

    • The whole point of enacting laws at the Federal level, is to prevent alternatives from being available, so one can compare, and see what is in error and what is not.

  11. Kasich has said a number of things that made him sound like a leftist than a centrist. So he’s probably on my no vote list with Trump. Fortunately for Kasich I’ll never have to pull out that list and look for his name though.

  12. Let’s not forget his support of expanding Medicare and Obamacare in Ohio. Obamacare is anti gun owner in it’s entirety. I’m already working on my short list of “must-haves” before the inevitable panic begins this Fall. Let’s see… an AR “pistol”, aong with an ATF approved “brace”, lots of ammo, pmags, more ammo, another Glock or 2, more ammo, my Firearms Trust, more ammo.

  13. Copy and share this piece on EVERY pro-Kasich article and page you can find. Repost and share it on John Kasich’s Facebook pages.

    This IS “war”, make NO mistake about it, John Kasich IS “the enemy”, he MUST be punished and destroyed for his treachery against gun owners and supporters of the 2nd Amendment

    Kasich’s FB page: https://www.facebook.com/JohnKasich/?ref=br_rs

    Vote Trump!

  14. I’m an Ohioan and Kasich has signed every pro-gun bill to hit his desk, even after Sandy Hook when Democrats and the media were calling for his crucifixion if he didn’t veto it. I’d say he definitely changed his mind about guns since then.

    • I have NO doubt Kasich signed the pro-gun bills in Ohio but it wasn’t out of agreement with our pro-2nd Amendment philosophy, it WAS because he needed to reassure his base all to further his chances of winning the GOP nomination for president. I wouldn’t trust that rat bastard RINO for a second, look at how he repeatedly bragged about busting out school bus windows over lost football games (at numerous town hall events/it’s his standard line) then turns around and criticizes Trump supporters who are only defending themselves from violent punks and thugs at rallies.

      • He has not chance of getting the nomination anyways, nor would I vote for him if he did get the nomination (Republicans are just as vile as Democrats). I’m simply pointing out that one single vote 22 years ago doesn’t change what he has done in the years since. Republicans masturbated to Romney, despite Romney signing anti-gun legislation and praising gun control shortly before deciding to run and the NRA flat out lied about his record and claimed he did the exact opposite of what he actually did (thus causing me to cancel my NRA membership and refuse to ever trust those Republican shills again). Kasich has spent the past 22 years signing pro-gun bill after pro-gun bill, even when he faced tremendous pressure not to, which makes him far more pro-gun than the last few decades worth of people who received the Republican nomination (Reagan, Bush I & II, Romney, McCain, Bob Dole, and everyone else who’s name I can’t remember off the top of my head).

    • ““I enjoyed our visit last night”

      I’ll bet you did, Bill!”

      — Wait, is that the same letter that Bill sent to Monica?

  15. Nnnn more blah, blah , blah, when I walk down the streat, Im the baddest gunsllinger walkin.. Why I dont confront u? You mite be faster. I dont care who wins election, what laws r passed, or what they say I can have or cant have. If they wanna make me an outlaw, so be it, allready am, allways will be. Moonshine grandpappy, bushracing daddy, momma run the bars, heart and soul brotherhood, revenuers up to no good, play it everyday, cause Im an American, ancestors faught the revelutionary war, give a little, take a little, but we aint going to be your whore

  16. More blah blah blah, stick a Cat in your pants n fck the law. Errr GAT not cat. No its a cat, I got a mangy, stinkin, flea infested, yellow tom cat stuck in my pants.. meeeeyeow

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