OPEN SEASON: Gun owners have a clear-cut choice
MARC FOLCO
Open Season
October 19, 2008 6:00 AM
The Obama campaign has unlawfully obtained — and made unauthorized use of — a proprietary media list belonging to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), charged the NSSF this week in its latest report. Sen. Obama used this list to e-mail a press release concerning National Hunting and Fishing Day, says NSSF, which is the Connecticut-based trade association for the firearms industry.
NSSF has sent a "cease and desist" letter to the Obama campaign demanding that they immediately stop any further unauthorized misuse of its proprietary media list. The list contains the names and addresses of members of the media that attended the NSSF Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) — the world's largest firearms trade show.
The list can only be obtained from NSSF and its use is tightly controlled. Neither the Obama campaign, nor its operations in Indiana, obtained any rights from NSSF to use it. NSSF's letter also demands that the Obama campaign destroy all copies of the list, identify how they obtained it and pay monetary damages to NSSF for its misappropriation and unauthorized use of the association's intellectual property. NSSF demanded an immediate response from the Obama campaign and has threatened to file a lawsuit against the campaign if its demands are not met.
"NSSF will not sit idly by while its legal rights are harmed, particularly for partisan political gain," said NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane.
NSSF is also encouraging all sportsmen and gun owners to visit the NSSF Voter Education Web site and educate themselves about the candidates' records and positions on issues important to them in this election.
Not that it comes as a surprise, but the National Rifle Association formally announced late last week that it has endorsed Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin for president and vice president.
"John McCain has more than two decades of pro-gun and pro-hunting votes in Congress — he has stood time and again to preserve our Second Amendment freedom and our rich hunting heritage," said Wayne LaPierre, NRA's executive vice president. "Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin have earned the endorsement and we will encourage gun owners, hunters and anyone who values freedom to vote McCain-Palin on Nov. 4."
"NRA members and gun owners will not allow Barack Obama to hide his radical record of opposition to our constitutional rights," added Chris W. Cox, chairman of the NRA Political Victory Fund. "Obama has voted to make self-defense with a firearm in the home illegal, has voted to ban the most commonly-owned hunting shotguns, has voted to ban commonly-owned hunting ammunition and has supported a 500-percent tax increase on guns and ammunition. We will remind voters every single time he pretends that his anti-gun record doesn't exist."
John McCain voted for the landmark Firearms Owners Protection Act and the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, opposed the failed Clinton Gun Ban, and voted against mandatory waiting periods, national gun registration, and bans on hunting ammunition. He also signed the historic congressional amicus brief in the case of Heller v. District of Columbia, holding that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms — a brief that Senator Obama refused to sign.
Gov. Palin is a hunter, gun owner and NRA Life Member. She has been a consistent and outspoken supporter of the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen.
On the flip side, The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the nation's leading gun-control group, has endorsed Sen. Barrack Obama and Sen. Joe Biden for president and vice president, respectively.
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