Donnelly and others comment on gun legislation

[jamil]

Why are you sure he would have? I'm not.

From a pragmatic standpoint, what he says makes a huge difference. If he can't politic his way out of a question, how would he be any kind of effective in office? Even if he was completely pro 2a that is only one thing. There are many things I didn't like about him. Please don't take my post as an endorsement for Donnelly, he didn't get my vote either.

From the sounds of it, Mourdock never had your vote anyway, and not really for pragmatic reasons. Mourdock answered the question the way a politician from the 90s or early 2000s would answer the question, back when Evangelicals dominated the Republican Party. Back then his answer would have had been the right play politically. His answer shows he's out of touch with the social evolution of the electorate, much like most people in the Republican Party.

But it all comes down to this. Donnelly will surely vote "yea" on gun control when it comes up. Even as an agnostic, as repulsive as it is, I'd rather have this evangelical social conservative, who ran on a platform of not caving to spineless leaders, in control of THIS vote. Now all we can hope for is that Coats will cancel Donnelly's vote. After his fiscal cliff vote, I'm not sure where his head is on this.

 

[Trooper]

Maybe Donnelly needs to have a talk with the senior senator from Indiana. You know, the guy who was voted out of office due to voting for the AWB.

 

[Trooper]

Who voted for Donnelly? Murdock didn't EARN my vote.

Blaming voters that voted libertarian is absurd. Republican voters never showed up to the polls.

Oh and maybe we should span this guy with calls, email, and letters.

Oh wait, the Indiana gun owner is a lazy one. Perhaps we can get some sort of hand out if they participate in the political process.

Ah, Nevermind. They are still too lazy.

A vote for the libertarian was a vote for Donnelly and gun control.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

 

[njbenja06]

Actions speak louder than words. Listening and looking at new legislation is one thing, it is another to actually vote for gun laws. To say you would not listen would be suicide for a politician. A lot of people of come out to say they will listen, lets wait before we go too crazy on this. Not to mention he was given an A for his views on guns from the NRA and this is what wikipedia said about his views: The National Rifle Association (NRA) has consistently supported Donnelly on his views on gun control. He helped promote a project that would get rid of gun registration and the trigger lock law in Washington, DC.[79] The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has disapproved of Donnelly's views and actions since 1998, based on his gun control voting records.[78] Donnelly was one of seventeen Democrats in the U.S. House to vote with the Republican majority for the criminal Contempt of Congress measure against United States Attorney General Eric Holder in the aftermath of Operation Fast and Furious.[80]

 

[jamil]

Actions speak louder than words. Listening and looking at new legislation is one thing, it is another to actually vote for gun laws. To say you would not listen would be suicide for a politician. A lot of people of come out to say they will listen, lets wait before we go too crazy on this. Not to mention he was given an A for his views on guns from the NRA and this is what wikipedia said about his views: The National Rifle Association (NRA) has consistently supported Donnelly on his views on gun control. He helped promote a project that would get rid of gun registration and the trigger lock law in Washington, DC.[79] The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has disapproved of Donnelly's views and actions since 1998, based on his gun control voting records.[78] Donnelly was one of seventeen Democrats in the U.S. House to vote with the Republican majority for the criminal Contempt of Congress measure against United States Attorney General Eric Holder in the aftermath of Operation Fast and Furious.[80]

But Donnelly didn't just say that he'd look at it. He said the shooting has changed him. Hopefully our letters to him will help mitigate whatever "change" he underwent.

 

[njbenja06]

This is true, I guess I have a little too much wishful thinking. I hope our letters help as well.

 

[bwframe]

Actions speak louder than words. Listening and looking at new legislation is one thing, it is another to actually vote for gun laws...

It certainly worked while the momentum was the other direction. Easy to be pro-gun when you need it to win elections:
Sen-elect Joe Donnelly, pro-gun Democrat, now open to gun control measures – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

A vote for the libertarian was a vote for Donnelly and gun control.

Correct!
I'm all for going that route, but if the 2nd A is lost in the process, all is lost. Throwing your vote away for idealism is one thing. Throwing our 2nd A rights away is another.

 

[Swapfoot]

Donnelly

I just got off the phone with Sarah in Senator Donnelly's office Washington. I realize that I am a newbie at phoning in my comments, but she made the interaction very positive. I left her with the stance that we oppose any new legislation restricting our gun rights. I also had two key points from a personal standpoint:
1. My 15 year old son has been training to earn a spot on the United States Olympic Skeet Team. He routinely shoots thousands of rounds per month if not per week. My point was that possession of a large quantity of ammunition is no indicator of bad intent.
2. His custom made stock on his competition grade shotgun has a pistol grip. It gives him, and hopefully our country, an advantage in the world and Olympic games. My point was that pistol grips do have a purpose for us and they are not something we want restricted.

That's my summary. I wanted to keep the call brief and I told her that I would call her again next week. She said that she understood my message and that she would pass this along to the Senator. During our following conversation, we chatted a bit and she told me that there have been a tremendous amount of calls and all have had the same position as mine. She said that the Senator will support our second amendment rights. We shall see. Yes, this may have been in vain, I may have accomplished nothing, she may have been appeasing me. BUT, I feel strong enough about this issue to feel that I have done all that I could in this instance. I will be following up with emails and phone calls each week with different topics to all of my representatives.

Greg