Gee, It’s almost as if politicians will say just about anything to get elected. The latest case in point: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. The New York Senator is currently one of about 68 Democrats who’ve announced their candidacy for the 2020 presidential race. She appeared on a Fox News town hall event over the weekend.
As Fox reports, the distinguished Senator made sure to take a shot at the National Rifle Association while news of the Virginia Beach shooting was still fresh in viewers’ minds.
“Americans are feeling ripped apart by the gun deaths we have seen, year after year, month after month,” Gillibrand said. “The most outrageous thing that’s happened to our democracy is how much fear, and division, and hate has been spread. I think the NRA is the worst organization in this country for doing exactly that. They care more about their profits than the American people.”
The NRA is a non-profit and doesn’t sell guns, but those are just silly little details that are neither here nor there. Besides, when you’re a Democrat presidential candidate you can’t possibly be too anti-gun or too strident in announcing that fact.
Gillibrand went on to call for universal background checks, a bump stock ban, and a federal anti-weapons trafficking law. She also accused the NRA of having a “chokehold” on members of Congress. (The Trump administration has already banned bump stocks, over the objections of some conservatives who raised concerns about the constitutionality of the sweeping executive order.)
So, nothing really new there. In fact compared to other Dem candidates like Cory “Spartacus” Booker (national gun licensing and registration) and Eric “Nuke Em” Swalwell, (confiscation or else), Gillibrand is practically middle-of-the road.
From her campaign web site:
We need to pass universal background checks, stop gun trafficking, ban assault rifles and close gun sale loopholes to make sure guns can’t get into the hands of dangerous criminals, terrorists or domestic abusers. Kirsten has fearlessly and consistently stood up for commonsense gun safety and taken on the greed of the gun lobby in the Senate, earning her a proud “F” rating from the NRA.
But the good senator wasn’t always so anti-gun or anti-NRA. In fact, in the olden days when she was a lowly Congresswoman representing a conservative upstate district where lots of gun-owning rubes and deplorables live, it was important to demonstrate that she was the kind of Democrat they didn’t have to fear.
That’s why she took time out of her busy schedule to meet with the NRA-ILA’s Chris Cox. She even followed up the meeting with a letter reaffirming her support of the Second Amendment.
After her incendiary Fox town hall comments, the NRA took the opportunity to remind the good Senator of her previous staunch support for gun rights.
Gillibrand called us the worst org in the country, but when she represented NY20, she wrote us: “I appreciate the work that the NRA does to protect gun owners rights, and I look forward to working with you for many years.” Now that she’s looking to crack 1%, she’ll say anything. pic.twitter.com/uW5OgpUa5B
— NRA (@NRA) June 3, 2019
Ouch.
If it’s difficult to read that, you can see a full-size version here. Note this portion:
Gillibrand also professed her opposition to “smart gun” mandates. And there’s this part, too:
I was also a proud co-signor of the amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court during the trial between the District of Columbia v. Heller and I was pleased that the Court correctly stood up for gun owners throughout the District by striking down the unconstitutional firearms restrictions.
In short, she was for the Second Amendment and gun rights before she was against them. Same as it ever was.