“Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s got an A-plus rating from the National Rifle Association,” bloomberg.com reports,”but he once backed a bill that could have -” Stop right there! I gotta know right now, before we go any further, do you love me? Will you love me forever? Do you need me? Will you never leave me? Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life? Will you take me away and will you make me your wife? OK, not wife. But seriously, what gun bill did Everytown for Civilian Disarmament jefe Bloomberg’s minions uncover that could scuttle his presidential aspirations amongst pro-gunners? Glad you asked . . .
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s got an A-plus rating from the National Rifle Association, but he once backed a bill that could have jailed gun dealers who sold weapons without trigger locks—and the people who bought them.
Walker, at the time a junior member of the state assembly, briefly co-sponsored a bill in 1995 making it illegal for any federally licensed gun dealer in the state to sell a weapon that wasn’t secured with a trigger lock, and also made it illegal to buy one. The penalty: fines of up to $10,000 and jail sentences of up to nine months.
That’s it? That’s it. That’s all they got. Oh, and Walker walked away from the bill when the NRA et al. mounted opposition. Big whoop.
Now that Walker is preparing to run for president—and seen by some as the early frontrunner for the Republican nomination—his flirtation with gun control could create an opportunity for competitors who have been more pure on the issue to question the depth of Walker’s anti-gun-control beliefs.
If Walker’s got Bloomberg’s knickers in a twist over this, that’s got to speak highly of Walker. More than that, the article highlights four other pro-gun Republican presidential candidates: former Texas Governor Rick Perry, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.
I’m liking the Republicans’ field right now, save Jeb Bush, who’s good on a lot of gun-related issues but favors “universal background checks.” (And it should be noted that Rick Perry opposed constitutional carry.) You?