Trustworthy polling from Gabby Giffords and Americans for Responsible Solutions . . . Poll: 67 percent of gun owners say NRA ‘overtaken by lobbyists’ – “Twenty-six percent of respondents said they are members of the NRA, and 74 percent said they are not. Fifty percent said they voted in November for Trump, who was endorsed early in his candidacy by the NRA, while 43 percent said they voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton. The poll was provided to POLITICO by Americans for Responsible Solutions, the PAC created by former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who survived a shooting at a constituent event in 2011, and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly.” And Politico dutifully regurgitated it.
Purple state blues . . . Northam touts gay rights, opposition to NRA in first TV ad of Virginia governor’s race – “Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam is highlighting gay marriage, gun violence and opposition to President Donald Trump in the first TV commercial of Virginia’s gubernatorial primary season. The ad buy seven weeks ahead of the June 13 primary, described by the Northam campaign as a “substantial, six-figure buy across Virginia,” underscores Northam’s financial advantage over Democratic rival Tom Perriello and the changing tone of Democratic campaigns in a purple state trending blue. The Northam campaign said the ad is believed to be the first in a gubernatorial race to mention marriage equality.”
Brownback seeks $24M to ban guns at state hospitals – “Gov. Sam Brownback is asking lawmakers for $24 million over the next two years to provide armed guards and other security measures to keep people from carrying concealed firearms into state mental hospitals. The money is needed to comply with a provision of the state’s concealed-carry law that goes into effect July 1 that will allow people to carry concealed weapons into nearly all public facilities unless there are adequate security measures in place to prevent anyone from carrying weapons into the building.”
We hear you John . . . Challenging inaccurate information about guns – “In April 2015, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal invited me to participate in a one-hour debate with Ted Alcorn, research director at Mr. Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety. Mr. Alcorn had already agreed to appear, but said he was unavailable as soon as the C-SPAN producer informed him of my participation. He said something had come up. When the producer suggested that the two of us could appear in separate, half-hour segments, his availability changed once again. However, he was only available for the half-hour segment after mine. Conveniently, that prevented me from responding to his points.” You don’t say.
We sure as hell hope so . . . Are Texas lawmakers ready to let gun owners carry without licenses? – “A proposal to let Texans openly carry handguns across the state — without first getting permits — may soon be heading to the House floor for a vote. This new request, dubbed Unlicensed or Permitless Carry, comes two years after state legislators passed laws letting licensed Texans openly carry guns across most of the state and conceal carry on many college campuses. ‘The top priority at the end of the day is seeing unlicensed carry signed into law by the governor,’ said Terry Holcomb Sr., a pastor and executive director of Texas Carry, a gun-rights group. ‘Everything else is second in priority to this bill.'”