There may be no vote a United States Senator casts that is more important than a vote to confirm a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. Now that the Court has clearly stated that the Second Amendment is a fundamental, individual right that applies to all law-abiding Americans, NRA members and gun owners expect a nominee to the Court to fully support, defend and preserve that freedom.

We have carefully examined the career, written documents and public statements of nominee Elena Kagan and have found nothing to indicate any support for the Second Amendment. On the contrary, the facts reveal a nominee who opposes Second Amendment rights and is clearly out of step with mainstream Americans.

Therefore, the NRA is strongly opposed to Kagan’s confirmation to the Court.

In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, she refused to declare support for the Second Amendment, saying only that the matter was “settled law.”

This was eerily similar to the scripted testimony of Justice Sonia Sotomayor last year, prior to her confirmation to the Court. When pressed on the Second Amendment then, Sotomayor also referred to the issue as “settled law.”

But in the recently decided case of McDonald v. City of Chicago, Sotomayor ignored the “settled law” of the Heller decision and signed a dissenting opinion that declared, “I can find nothing in the Second Amendment’s text, history, or underlying rationale that could warrant characterizing it as ‘fundamental’ insofar as it seeks to protect the keeping and bearing of arms for private self-defense purposes.”

It has become obvious that “settled law” is the scripted code of an anti-gun nominee’s confirmation effort. The NRA is not fooled. No member of the U.S. Senate should be either.

With no judicial record, only Kagan’s political career can be reviewed. And this provides no reason to trust her with Americans’ firearms freedom. Throughout her career, she has repeatedly demonstrated a clear hostility to the fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution.

As a clerk for Justice Thurgood Marshall, Kagan said she was “not sympathetic” to a challenge to Washington, DC’s ban on firearms. As a domestic policy advisor in the Clinton White House, a colleague described her as “immersed” in Clinton’s aggressive assaults on the Second Amendment. She was involved in Clinton’s scheme to ban more than 50 types of commonly-owned semiautomatic firearms – an effort described as “…taking the law and bending it as far as we can to capture a whole new class of guns.”

As U.S. Solicitor General, Kagan chose not to file a brief last year in the landmark McDonald case, thus taking the position that incorporating the Second Amendment and applying it to the states was of no interest to the Obama Administration or the federal government.

These are not the positions of a person who supports the Second Amendment and, in fact, represent a clear and present danger to the right to keep and bear arms.

Kagan’s record clearly reveals that she does not believe that the Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental right. In her recent testimony, she refused to acknowledge respect for the God-given right of self-defense.

She should not serve on any court, let alone be confirmed to a lifetime seat on the highest court in the land.

The NRA is strongly opposed to the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. This vote matters and will be a part of future candidate evaluations.

The above statement was originally published by NRA-ILA.

You can contact Senator Arlen Specter at 202-224-4254 and Senator Bob Casey at 202-224-6324.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can also read Kopel’s written testimony where he decimates Kagan’s belief that the KKK & NRA should be linked as “bad guy orgs.”

The NRA has always stood up for civil rights, including the right to keep and bear arms without regard to race, color, or creed. The historic role of the KKK was to deprive African Americans of this right.

The cofounder of the NRA was General Ambose Everett Burnside, who had recently finished two terms as Governor of Rhode Island. As a Union General, he had been a leader at integrating the freedmen into combat roles. As the Providence Journal later put it, Burnside was ―One of the first of the regular army officers to approve heartily of Mr. Lincoln‘s emancipation policy, he was also one of the first to favor the arming of black troops, and one of the most successful in training them for action.

After founding the NRA, Burnside was elected Senator from Rhode Island. He fought against racial segregation in the military, and proposed that West Point adopt an affirmative action admissions plan for blacks.

The sixth NRA President, General Winfield Scott Hancock, was nationally extolled as “the hero of Gettysburg.” As Democratic nominee for U.S. President in 1880, he had lost the popular vote by less than 10,000 votes, and if he had won the swing state of New York, he would have won the electoral vote. Hancock was remarkable for his time, always treating black people as equals, even before the Civil War. In 1880, Hancock led a national campaign to vindicate a black cadet at West Point who had been attacked by some white cadets, but whom the West Point administration claimed had injured himself.

The NRA‘s Articles of Incorporation omitted something that was common for other sporting organizations at the time: a racial exclusion clause. In contrast to many other organizations and clubs created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—such as the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association, the Professional Golf Association, the New York Athletic Club (for track and field), and the Amateur Athletic Union (same), the NRA welcomed members and athletes of every race.

The NRA was the governing body for the sport of rifle shooting, and eventually became the governing body for almost all the shooting sports. In this way, the NRA set a good example of racial integration and equality for the millions of Americans who participated in the shooting sports. Even during the worst of Jim Crow, a NRA match was one place where blacks and whites were exactly equal, and where skin color did not matter.

In the very segregated Washington, D.C., of the 1930s and 1940s, the shooting range at NRA National Headquarters was the only integrated place where a young black man could go and feel fully welcome. At least that was the experience of Richard Atkinson, a black man who grew up in the District during those years, and who was later was elected a director of the National Rifle Association.

The concerns Kopel raises are some of the reasons the NRA has made its opposition of Kagan crystal clear to members of the Senate. They will score the vote on her confirmation when they calculate grades for the 2010 elections.

Senators Arlen Specter & Bob Casey will likely return to Pennsylvania this next week for the July Fourth holiday recess. Please make sure you contact them to let them know that you stand with NRA & do not want a Supreme Court justice who believes that Americans who believe in gun rights are similar to despicable racists.

In the meantime, please take a few minutes to thank the members of the legislative branches of government who worked on our behalf to encourage the Supreme Court toward this position.

US Senate
Bob Casey

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Arlen Specter

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US Congress
Jason Altmire

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Christopher Carney

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Charlie Dent

• Twitter – @DentforCongress
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Jim Gerlach

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Tim Holden

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Paul Kanjorski

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Patrick Murphy

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Tim Murphy

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Joe Pitts

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Todd Platts

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Bill Shuster

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Glenn Thompson

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State Officials
Tom Corbett

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Joe Scarnati

Karen Boback

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Michele Brooks

Bryan Cutler

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Bill DeWeese

Glen Grell

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Rob Kauffman

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Mark Keller

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John Maher

Daryl Metcalfe

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Merle Phillips

Kathy Rapp

RoseMarie Swanger

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Will Tallman

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Katie True

Well Dan Onorato is blaming Tom Corbett for the so-called “Florida Loophole,” showing that the candidate for governor in 2010 is not shy about sending his gun control views up the flag pole. This is in contrast to Ed Rendell, who conveniently dropped the issue like a hot potato during his 2002 and 2006 runs.

The biggest flaw in Onorato’s argument? Gun owners with concealed carry licenses are more law-abiding than the general population. The second biggest flaw? Tom Corbett was not yet in office to sign the Florida reciprocity agreement in 2001.

I’m convinced that Ed Rendell has convinced fellow Democrats that the NRA can’t touch them. His evidence? His two terms, and Barack Obama’s ten point win in this state. Except Rendell ran against two lackluster candidates, and so did Barry. Corbett isn’t a weak candidate. He’s a hard campaigner and a good fundraiser.

It’s absolutely important we send Dan Onorato packing this fall, or it’s going to be over for us in Pennsylvania. Democrats will say the NRA can’t hurt them, only then they will be right.

Most in the media have made the assumption that Onorato is supportive of gun rights simply because he lives outside of the Philadelphia area.  If you look at the facts, those assumptions simply don’t hold water.  Looking back at the positions taken during the primary campaign, Dan Onorato was only outflanked on the left by Joe Hoeffel.  Post-primary, his positions are still more anti-gun than many of NRA’s most ardent foes in Harrisburg.

On this list of some of the “big” issues right now, Onorato has come out against gun owners 75% of the time. The other two issues are unknowns, or he would support other government officials in their quest for more gun control. That’s not what we usually consider “on our side” in the gun owning community.

Flipping the issue over to look at the issue from the gun control handbook from CeaseFirePA, their big issues show a similar breakdown. Onorato is with them 85% of the time, and they classify the remaining 15% of the positions as unknown – not in opposition to their agenda. Only Joe Hoeffel scored more points with CeaseFirePA. Though Sen. Tony Williams did tie with Onorato, he took a firmer stand against their policies when he didn’t agree with the gun control group.

Another way to look at Onorato’s position is to compare them to recent votes in the Judiciary Committee of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. To prove the comparison of being with the pro-gun side of the Democratic Party false, I’ve broken these charts down by NRA grade. All lawmakers are Democrats.

This table shows that Onorato is farther to the left on recent gun rights policy debates than two of the four F-rated lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee.

Looking at some who probably fall on the left of the issue, and another lawmaker who falls squarely in the middle of the issue based on previous grades. Onorato’s policies fall in line with the D- legislator, but he’s exactly the opposite of two other D legislators and our single C-rated representative on the committee. That doesn’t seem to be very pro-gun.

All of these lawmakers are probably the “right flank” of the gun issue for the Democratic Party since they are all A-rated or higher. Most of them carry the NRA’s endorsement. And yet Dan Onorato doesn’t agree with them on anything – from banning guns to gutting gun laws to even a law dealing with self-defense in your own home.

The only truth you may hear is that Onorato’s running mate, Scott Conklin for Lt. Governor, has held a high NRA rating in the past. That is the truth, and he has even carried their endorsement in his race for state representative. Unfortunately for Rep. Conklin, due to the policy proposals of his gubernatorial running mate, it is likely that NRA will not support his run for higher office this year. The Republican candidate for Governor, Tom Corbett, has an excellent record on the Second Amendment issues we’re facing today, and has enjoyed the endorsement of NRA in previous statewide elections.

“So they essentially get a ‘get-out-of-jail free’ card when they’re stopped carrying a loaded firearm. They produce a Florida permit and our local law enforcement must honor that which is unacceptable given the arrest record and the background of many of these individuals.”

See, you get out of jail free, because you flash a legal license. Everyone knows, of course, the default for carrying a gun should be to go to jail.

He says the Sunshine State is less strict when it comes to handing out permits, looking only at convictions and not a person’s character.

The Sunshine State is not less strict. They require training, fingerprinting, and a 120 dollar application fee. So far they can point to one bozo out of thousands in the Commonwealth who have Florida licenses. Most Florida license holders, including myself, also have PA LTCs, and only retain Florida’s CWL for expanded recognition from other states.

Philadelphia sure does look at a person’s character though. Unpaid parking tickets? Well, no, you can’t have a permit. What kind of person owes the City of Philadelphia money? Had a gun stolen once? Well, we can’t have you exercising your right to bear arms. You’re not a suitable person.

The UFA, namely the Amendments of Act 17, were supposed to make Philadelphia shall-issue like the rest of the state. But they haven’t. Philadelphia routinely revokes permits for trivial and unlawful reasons. They represent only a smal fraction of statewide permit holders, yet represent a hugely disproportionate numer of revocations. Why do some people seek recourse in a Florida license? Because it’s cheaper than hiring a lawyer to fight a denial or revocation.

Lentz and all his gun hating buddies in the General Assembly need to understand this very simple fact: We’re going to flip the House back this fall, and if you shove this down our throats, we’re going to shove a whole lot of things down your throats you aren’t going to like, which include eliminating or severely limiting the discretion local jurisdictions may exercise in issuing Licenses to Carry Firearms. You want us to be responsible with guns, we’re going to demand officials be responsible with the law. If they can’t be, we’re going to change it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Needless to say, we probably should expect any commercials like these two in the Philadelphia, Erie, or even Pittsburgh television markets any time soon. In Pennsylvania, the dueling pro-gun messages probably won’t top what we already saw in the PA-12 special election.

Among the worst of the three gun bills, HB 1044 would have ended preemption in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia would have had the authority to abuse lawful gun owners even more than they try to do now. Fortunately, thanks to the hard work of gun owners who called, emailed, and tweeted lawmakers, it failed 20-6.

More good news for gun owners comes in the defeat of HB 1045 that would arbitrarily ban some semi-automatic rifles around Pennsylvania. We already saw the failure of the Clinton Gun Ban in the 1990s, and this bill would have been even more useless – beyond outlawing guns in many lawful collections across the Keystone State. The gun ban failed 20-6.

In a sneaky move to create new government staff positions that would promote gun control full-time, HB 1043 was framed as a new “firearms czar,” a bureaucrat who would look for ways to curb gun sales in Pennsylvania on the taxpayer’s dime. Fortunately, this sneaky trick failed by a vote of 17-9.

In a bit of really bright news for gun owners, Castle Doctrine moved in an overwhelming vote. The 22-4 vote won over even poorly rated lawmakers from the Philadelphia area. The only votes against it were from Representatives Paul Drucker, Kathy Manderino, Greg Vitali, and Ronald Waters.

Interestingly, Rep. Drucker (Chester & Montgomery Counties) proudly boasts of his endorsement & support by gun ban groups. It seems like a bold move for a lawmaker who only won his seat in 2008. As a Democrat, he rode the wave of support, but with only 707 votes. He will face Republican Warren Kampf, a Tredyffrin Township Supervisor. While not all candidates in the district have historically been pro-gun, sending Drucker home in November is feasible. It would, at the very least, make sure he is no longer promoting the anti-gun agenda for CeaseFirePA.

In the other races, Rep. Kathy Manderino is retiring at the end of her term. Rep. Greg Vitali has seen significant victories in recent years, enough to warrant consideration for a Congressional run last year. Rep. Ronald Waters is a lawmaker who rarely event draws a challenger. So while some entrenched anti-gun votes aren’t so easy to remove this November, at least a few are up for serious challenge. Let’s make them remember this vote. If they don’t support our rights to self-defense, then we should send them home.

As of Monday morning, only 3,882 votes define the race. Based on turnout, this difference (unlikely to change much by the deadline for unofficial vote tallies on Tuesday evening) will cause an automatic recount should Saidel demand one. His campaign is not commenting on whether they will force the state to recount the ballots at great expense, but some early statements indicate he will challenge the results. It’s not unexpected since Saidel openly mocked other candidates to reporters and never spent money he raised since he assumed he would win.

While the role of Lt. Governor isn’t the most high-profile, it can make a difference in the races. As this snarky take indicates, it can really change a message:

… experts tell the Tribune-Review that running-mates don’t really have that much of an impact on the fate of gubernatorial candidates.

This story is easier to write if you ignore the fact that Ed Rendell wouldn’t have won in 2002 without Catherine Baker Knoll and also now that Tom Corbett doesn’t have to lie awake at night worrying about campaign signs that might have read: “CORBETT/METCALFE 2010: THE BIPOLAR CHOICE.”

If Saidel can’t make up the votes in a recount, the entire top of the ticket for both parties won’t have a single member of the Philadelphia delegation. The closest will be the GOP Lt. Governor nominee from Bucks County and the Democratic Senate nominee from Delaware County.

Lt. Governor – Democratic Nomination
It’s still a nail biter – and there will likely be ballot challenges in some ares – but early results show that State Rep. Scott Conklin has come out of no where as a late entry to the race to possibly topple the state party endorsed candidate out of Philadelphia, Jonathan Saidel. In his last election to the state House, Rep. Conklin had an A rating from NRA and earned their endorsement. With 99.2% of precincts reporting at about 9am, Conklin leads by 4,654 votes. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the lead grows as the final votes come in.

Senate District 14 – Democratic Nomination
NRA endorsed State Rep. John Yudichak had a commanding victory over anti-gun mayor Tom Leighton. This seat is likely to remain in Democratic hands, as it has been for decades, so the Democratic primary was essentially the election to watch. Leighton is a member of Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun coalition calling for an end to gun shows in Pennsylvania. We congratulate Senator-elect Yudichak for his decisive victory.

Governor – Republican Nomination
Either of the candidates in the Republican primary would have been great for gun owners. They both had strong records of defending the Second Amendment, and we’re very proud to see Attorney General Tom Corbett carrying the banner into November. Of course, we also regret that the State Rep. Sam Rohrer will be departing the State House since he opted not to run for his local seat during the primary. Hopefully his replacement in the seat will be as worthy of the support of gun owners as Rep. Rohrer has been over the years.

Senate District 22 – Democratic Nomination
This is a mixed bag election for gun owners. On one hand, the NRA backed candidate – State Rep. Jim Wansacz – did not make the final cut for November. On the other hand, the extreme anti-gun Mayor of Scranton did not survive either. A dark horse candidate won the race, and we hope to find out more about his position on guns rights in the future. This is his first elected office, and he was backed by the retiring pro-gun Senator for this open seat. For anti-gun Chris Doherty, this is his second setback in a few months after his campaign for governor floundered. Calling in the big guns, the anti-gun leader brought in Bill Clinton to record phone calls for him, though it did no good.

Overall, we’re sending a great message to Harrisburg: Your anti-gun candidates will not survive the electoral games this year. It doesn’t matter if you have the backing of Michael Bloomberg and his ally Bill Clinton, NRA members will make sure your race goes down in defeat.

Now comes the harder part where we step in for the final months to turn out the vote in November. We need your help to make sure Harrisburg and Washington are filled with pro-rights supporters.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Topics include banning private sales, banning rifles, and registries. In fact, Joe Sestak won’t even concede that firearms may be used for self-defense lawfully.

It is also true that Arlen Specter does not have the support of the NRA. NRA has endorsed Republican Pat Toomey in the race. Since his party switch, Specter has voted against us on every issue.

Senate District 24
Bob Mensch

• Twitter – @menschforsenate
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Senate District 6
Bryan Allen

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House District 31
Rob Ciervo

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Steve Santarsiero

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House District 141
Joe Hogan

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Kevin Glasson

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Tina Davis

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District 141
Frank Farry

• Twitter – @frankfarry2010
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House District 146
Mark Painter

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House District 147
Marcy Toepel

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House District 148
Matt Maguire

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House District 151
Todd Stephens

• Twitter – @Stephens4Rep
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House District 152
Tom Murt

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House District 153
Tom Bogar

• Twitter – @tombogar
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Josh Shapiro

• Twitter – @Josh_Shapiro
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House District 154
Mary Beth Carroll

• Twitter – @marybethcarroll
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House District 169
Dennis O’Brien

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House District 170
Marc Collazzo

• Twitter – @MarcCollazzo

House District 172
Daniel Collins

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Tim Kearney

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Kevin Boyle

• Twitter – @Boylefor172
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House District 175
Daryl LaFountain

• Twitter – @FriendsofDaryl

Click here to view the embedded video.

We previously covered how easy it is to engage lawmakers and help candidates through technology, even if you’re busy with work and family. If you have used these tools and opportunities, we want to hear your story.

DEMOCRATS

Scott Conklin

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Doris Smith-Ribner

• Twitter – @smithribner
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Jonathan Saidel

• Twitter – @JonathanSaidel
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REPUBLICANS

John Kennedy

• Twitter – @KennedyForLG
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Steve Johnson

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Russ Diamond

• Twitter – @russdiamond
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Chet Beiler

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Billy McCue

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Jim Cawley

• Twitter – @CawleyforLG
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• A rated Congressman Bill Shuster may be facing a new opponent in November. No Democrat filed to run in time for the May 18 primary, so now one man is waging a write-in campaign to be included in the general election.
• $10 for Liberty candidate Congressman Charlie Dent is showing some early signs of success over his opponent who is working with NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg to shut down gun shows.  Gun owners can’t afford to fall asleep at the wheel, though.  This seat is being targeted by the White House to flip over to anti-gun.
• Charlie Cook has reclassified PA-12 as leaning Republican after recent polling data about voter enthusiasm was released.  With either candidate in the special election, gun owners win since both scored As on their NRA questionnaires.
• NRA has released select endorsements for the primary elections in May.
• Pennsylvania has lost more Congressional seats than any other state from its peak representation.  We have lost a seat for a record number of apportionment count cycles – 8, and that will grow to 9 after this year’s Census is completed.  This makes a big difference in our state elections because the legislature and governor will be charged with passing the redistricting legislation that could severely impact how gun owners fare at the federal level.

However, the anti-gun crowd is in such desperate shape that they do have to give out points for even acknowledging their existence.

After sportsmen flooded the Capitol yesterday with hundreds of activists, the anti-gun crowd was feeling a little left out of the limelight. So today they organized a conference call to issue grades for the gubernatorial candidates.

Democrats:

• Joe Hoeffel: A
• Anthony Williams: A-
• Dan Onorato: B+
• Jack Wagner: C+

Republicans:

• Sam Rohrer: D
• Tom Corbett: F

According to the Allentown Morning Call’s John Micek, the group gave credit to Representative Sam Rohrer because he was willing to acknowledge their existence by taking time to complete their questionnaire and return it. Attorney General Tom Corbett, on the other hand, ignored them.

We will feature more information from the CeaseFire questionnaire this week.  Their responses may surprise you if you haven’t been following the race closely.

As the EVCs for PA-8 & PA-13, we paired up to hit many of the shared districts around Montgomery & Bucks Counties. Though we did not have time to visit every legislative office in the area, we did have productive meetings with Representatives Frank Farry, Bob Godshall, and Marguerite Quinn. We also had the opportunity to meet with Senator Bob Mensch, and the staff of Senator Chuck McIlhinney.

[Comment From Adam Z]
Hello, I have asked this question to some of the other candidates so here is the question…Could you please state your stance on Gun Owners Rights? For example, there is a current piece of legislation in the PA House – HB 40. Here is a summary of the bill, as a reference point…”Short Title: An Act amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses) and 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing, in general principles of justification, for definitions, for use of force in self-protection, for use of force for the protection of other persons and for licenses to carry firearms; providing for civil immunity for use of force; and further providing for sentences for offenses committed with firearms. ” In other words, this is a type of “Castle Doctrine” legislation where someone would be protected legally if they were defending themselves or loved ones not only in their homes, but also out in public. This legislation would stipulate that the person defending themselves could not be the agitator or instigator of said event and also not engaged in any type of illegal activity. Also, it would protect individuals in civil court from being sued from families of criminals during the process of roberry or some sort of criminal acitivity. Could you please explain your stance on this piece of proposed legislation and your opinion on rights of Gun Owners in general?

Tom Corbett: I support the use of force, including deadly force when warranted, within the home.
Tom Corbett: I am a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment and am a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, which is why I have tripled the number of concealed carry reciprocity agreements and signed on with Attorneys General to challenge the handgun bans in Washington DC and Chicago.

According to Adam, he submitted a follow-up question that was not published. It may have been due to the fact that Attorney General Corbett got to up leave the chat before final questions were even posted and without acknowledging those who took their lunch hour to learn more about him.

Today, Micek welcomes Attorney General Tom Corbett to the online roundtable. Gen. Corbett’s last grade with the NRA was an A+.

If you plan to submit any questions relevant to sportsmen, let us know on Twitter @PAGunRights.