Tim Pawlenty picks up gun appeal in Iowa - shoots a Glock

[RamboLiberal]

Tim Pawlenty’s stepping up his appeal to gun owners in Iowa.

On Saturday, the former Minnesota governor will bring his RV tour to Searsboro to the Iowa Firearms Coalition Second Amendment Rally, making him the only 2012 contender to accept an invitation to an event that’s expected to draw about 1,300 people.

Gun issues aren’t major motivators for Iowa voters, but they’re certainly on the minds of the people who’ll attend next month’s Ames straw poll and the Iowa caucuses. And with Pawlenty staging a last-ditch effort to revive his campaign’s prospects, he’s looking to appeal to every potentially overlooked constituency he can.

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Already on Wednesday, Pawlenty stopped at a shooting range on Wednesday, telling reporters that he frequently hunts deer and pheasant with his brother, who accompanied him on the trip. Then he trained a Glock 9mm pistol at three moving cardboard targets and emptied out about a half-dozen rounds.



Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59672.html#ixzz1SsZ3ChCA

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. Is he another fake, like Romney?

Mitt became a lifetime member just to appease the fringe.

[gejohnston]

2. search me, but it sounded like he was not familiar with that type of

pistol. But then, it takes awhile to be familiar with each one. What I want to see is a for real progressive show up at a range with one of his own, and wow them for real. A real progressive with NRA endorsements like Howard Dean, would be awesome. Pro worker, pro gun, and pro union, etc would be unbeatable. Just ask Bernie Sanders. He got 80 percent of the vote in many of the same places Bush did.

[spin]

3. In 2008 Mitt favored an assault weapons ban ...

Mitt Romney on Gun Control

***snip***

Support the 2nd Amendment AND the assault weapon ban

I do support the Second Amendment. I would have signed the assault weapon ban that came to his desk. I said I would have supported that and signed a similar bill in our state. It was a bill worked out, by the way, between pro-gun lobby and anti-gun lobby individuals. Both sides of the issue came together and found a way to provide relaxation in licensing requirements and allow more people to--to have guns for their own legal purposes. So we signed that in Massachusetts, and I’d support that at the federal level. It did not pass at the federal level. I do not believe we need new legislation. I do not support any new legislation of an assault weapon ban nature, including that against semiautomatic weapons. We have laws in place that, if they’re implemented & enforced, will provide the protection and the safety of the American people. I do support the right of individuals to bear arms, whether for hunting purposes or for protection purposes or any other reasons. That’s the right that people have
Source: 2008 GOP debate in Boca Raton Florida Jan 24, 2008

***snip***

Ok to ban lethal weapons that threaten police

Q: Are you still for the Brady Bill?

A: The Brady Bill has changed over time, and, of course, technology has changed over time. I would have supported the original assault weapon ban. I signed an assault weapon ban in Massachusetts governor because it provided for a relaxation of licensing requirements for gun owners in Massachusetts, which was a big plus. And so both the pro-gun and the anti-gun lobby came together with a bill, and I signed that. And if there is determined to be, from time to time, a weapon of such lethality that it poses a grave risk to our law enforcement personnel, that’s something I would consider signing. There’s nothing of that nature that’s being proposed today in Washington. But I would look at weapons that pose extraordinary lethality.
Source: Meet the Press: 2007 “Meet the Candidates” series Dec 16, 2007
http://www.ontheissues.org/governor/Mitt_Romney_Gun_Control.htm

The assault weapons ban was a foolish piece of legislation that accomplished nothing and in fact made the weapons it targeted for "banning" far more popular than they would have been if the law would have never passed.

Before the ban, few shooters that I knew had any interest in owning a semi-auto rifle that was a crippled clone of the actual automatic assault rifles used by various armies around the world. All the publicity these weapons received because of the ban caused many shooters to decide to purchase one. Shooters discovered that these weapons were fun to shoot and could be used for sports such as target shooting and hunting. Today they are hot sellers.

Romney is just another typical Republican politician who talks out of both side of his mouth. If he were elected President, he would sell out gun owners in a heartbeat. Some Republican candidates are willing to pander to gun owners before an election but would do far more damage to gun rights than Obama ever will. Rudy Giuliani is another example.

Rudy Giuliani on Gun Control

***snip***

Supported nationwide licensing & assault weapons ban

Q: One of the raps against you is that as mayor you did things that pleased your city but that weren’t necessarily good for the nation. Case in point: Gun control. You now say that what works in New York doesn’t necessarily work in Montana. But as mayor, you supported the nationwide Clinton assault weapons ban. You supported nationwide federal licensing. And you actually joined a lawsuit to make gun manufacturers liable if someone used their gun to shoot somebody.

A: I did everything I could as mayor o New York City to reduce crime. And the strategy against guns, both civil and criminal, was very aggressive.

Q: But that wasn’t just tough in New York City, it was tough around the nation.

A: But so was the strategy I utilized in New York City on everything. I was criticized for being too aggressive about the enforcement of the laws, including the gun laws. But the reality is I began with the city that was the crime capital of America. When I left, it was the safest large city in America.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php

Giuliani supported the gun laws in New York City which allow the rich, the powerful and the well connected to get a license to own and even carry a firearm but makes it almost impossible for normal honest people in the city to have that right.

[lawodevolution]

4. Which side is the fringe?

The 4 million current NRA members or
The 50 thousand current and previous Brady campaign members?

[Kennah]

7. Bush Senior joined the NRA in 1988, IIRC

Same cloth

[gejohnston]

8. JFK and Truman were members too

but that was before the crazy assholes took over.

[Kennah]

9. I think you mean the RW assholes, because the difference is, um, ah, er, yeah.

JFK and Truman were members in spirit, not just on paper like Bush Sr.

[OakCliffDem]

5. The jerk couldn't even choose an American gun

He could of picked a Smith and Wesson or a Ruger, but instead he goes and shoots an Austrian gun. Pawlenty is a deceitful loser and disgrace.

[gejohnston]

6. on the bright side,

it wasn't a Norinco.

[Euromutt]

10. Do you take issue with the brand, or with where the jobs go?

Because Glocks sold on the U.S. market are assembled in Smyrna, GA, which means that more Americans are employed making Glocks than are employed making most models of "American" car. Since the Glock is the most prominent police sidearm in the U.S., let's take a look at the most prominent police car, the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. Built in Canada. Hell, most Hondas and Toyotas that are sold on the American market have more American labor in them than, say, the Chrysler PT Cruiser.

And for the record, I don't own a Glock. I do own two S&Ws and one Ruger, though.