Click here to view the embedded video.

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.

[Comment From Adam Z]
Hello, 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 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?

Anthony Hardy Williams: I fully respect those who adhere to the Second Amendment. It is one of our many birthrights as Americans. However, I do not support House Bill 40. We have laws on the books that allow you to protect yourself in your home and outside your home currently. Police officers across the Commonwealth have openly opposed this type of legislation and said that it doesn’t make any individual or community safer. In fact, it erodes the quality of life in such communities.

Most of Pennsylvania is quite happy with the quality of life they enjoy compared to Philadelphia’s crime problems. As the source of most of the Commonwealth’s criminal activity, many gun owners would like the be secure in their right to defend themselves.

In addition, Williams was asked to comment on municipalities who violate state law by passing local gun control. NRA has sued the city of Pittsburgh for their violation of state law and the Supreme Court decision in Ortiz v. Commonwealth.

[Comment From scott]
In PGH, the NRA is suing the city for requiring people to report lost or stolen guns within 24 hours. They say it requires an inventory. The suit got tossed on technical grounds (no standing) and now the NRA is appealing.Where do you stand on this issue?

Anthony Hardy Williams: Scott, I am a candidate in this race that recognizes that Pennsylvania is the No. 1 state for homicides among young African-American men, as a consequence of guns. For those who are not concerned about that, they should be concerned about commerce being able to operate effectively in Pittsburgh or as a visitor to the city, visiting the arts community on a night out, or an athletic event, or being outsides, as matters of safety. So it would seem that the NRA’s position on this is contrary to the Pittsburgh and Allegheny County’s larger interests of an ability to have a flourishing, commerce and a safer community.

I created an illegal gun task force in Philadelphia County, which has removed thousands of weapons from the streets and arrested hundreds of people. Pittsburgh deserves one and needs one from the next governor. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and other communities affected by illegal gun trafficking should be supported by reasonable gun legislation such as New York State’s.

As we reported in the fall, 56% of Pennsylvanians oppose overturning this decision because it would mean a heap of differing gun laws in each township and boro across the Commonwealth. However, Sen. Williams has been on the record supporting such a change. It would mean Philadelphia could ban lawful concealed carry, Pittsburgh could ban the guns you use to hunt, and your local town could write transportation laws which would make traveling to the gun club unbearable.

However, considering Sen. Williams considers New York as a great model for gun control, gun owners should be concerned.

Finally, another commenter questioned the strategy of using gun control as an issue outside of Philadelphia:

[Comment From Bruce]
I have a question regarding your media strategy. You are running ads in the western part of the state talking about taking our guns. Do you think this is a good strategy and if so why?

Anthony Hardy Williams: Bruce, I don’t run any ads talking about taking guns away from anyone who LEGALLY owns a gun. But if you are an illegal gun owner, or distributor, you need to go run and hide.

Actually, Sen. Williams went on the record recently demanding that Philadelphia should have the right to revoke the Second Amendment on a discretionary basis for any resident of their city. He also calls for local communities to have the power to ban lawful carry and ownership within their borders. It really sounds like LEGAL gun owners might also want to run and hide from his campaign.

Today, Micek continues talking to the Democratic candidates with Senator Tony Williams. He has previously hosted Auditor General Jack Wagner, Joe Hoeffel and Republican candidate Representative Sam Rohrer.

Williams has targeted gun rights in his first commercial buy – pledging to end state preemption that makes sure we have clear, uniform gun laws across the state.

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

Republicans
Tom Corbett

• Twitter: @CorbettForGov
• Facebook

Sam Rohrer

• Twitter: @samrohrer
• Facebook
• Flickr
• YouTube

Democrats
Joe Hoeffel

• Twitter: @joehoeffel
• Facebook
• Flickr
• YouTube

Dan Onorato

• Twitter: @dan_onorato
• Facebook
• Flickr
• YouTube

Jack Wagner

• Twitter: @wagnergov2010
• Facebook
• Flickr
• YouTube

Anthony Williams

• Twitter: @williams4pagov
• Facebook

Our first video is from the January Progressive Summit where all of the Democratic candidates at the time endorsed various forms of gun control. Whether it is government control over how many guns you buy, making your carry permit worthless, or banning your favorite competition rifle, there’s a whole host of positions that will make the anti-gun crowd celebrate in this clip.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Since this debate, Chris Doherty dropped his flailing gubernatorial bid, and has instead decided he wants to make Harrisburg more anti-gun by filling the seat of A rated Senator Bob Mellow. His pro-gun challenger in the Democratic primary is A rated Rep. Jim Wansacz, our candidate of the week.

The gubernatorial race has also changed thanks to the entry of D rated Sen. Tony Williams. He knocked established candidate Joe Hoeffel out of the party endorsement race before he was even on the ballot. Needless to say, this has shaken things up in the campaign because the Southeast part of the state holds nearly half of the Democratic primary voters, which he and Hoeffel are expected to split.

We’ll have more videos in coming weeks from candidates who are talking about the Second Amendment.

In the race for governor, four Democrats and two Republicans made it on the ballot successfully. On the Democratic side, we’ve covered their positions on gun control before, except for Sen. Tony Williams who was not in the race at the time. His last NRA rating was D – hardly a friend to the Second Amendment in Pennsylvania.

In the category of Lieutenant Governor, there was only one noteworthy surprise. State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe filed rather unexpectedly for the office on the Republican side. Both Democrats and Republicans have already endorsed in the race, and that support usually brings with it access to party support. This morning, Rep. Metcalfe is expected to formally launch his bid for Lt. Gov. at the State Capitol today. While Rep. Metcalfe has been a dedicated friend to gun owners, with the late start, a general lack of name recognition statewide to the broader electorate, and lack of a party endorsement, his campaign will likely be an uphill battle. That might explain why he has also filed paperwork to run for his state house seat again at the same time.

In Congress, the competitive races fill up pages on the candidate list. Consider that the race to oust Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper includes a two-way primary on the Democratic side and a six-way competition on the Republican side. Over in the Southwest, the competition to take former Rep. John Murtha’s seat has a new set of twists and turns. After Mark Critz won his party’s support for the special election to fill the rest of the term, former Treasurer Barbara Hafer announced she would still challenge him in the primary for the election in November. However, after filing the paperwork last night to be on the ballot, she has already dropped out this morning. Regardless, that still leaves a four-way race for the Democratic nomination and two-way competition for the GOP nomination in the 12th District.

In PA-8, Rep. Patrick Murphy has lined up four Republican challengers, two of whom have been recognized by the NRCC for meeting high campaign benchmarks. In PA-13, the quest to unseat Rep. Allyson Schwartz has three GOP candidates on the ballot. The two counties comprising the district split on their endorsements and a third candidate stayed in the race to take advantage of the split. In PA-19, Rep. Todd Platts has challengers on both tickets, but he is expected to keep the seat.

Though some seats are considered extremely safe based on general popularity of the incumbent or makeup of the local electorate, it is noteworthy that only one Congressional seat has no challengers at all this year – that is PA-9 represented by Rep. Bill Shuster.

In the state house, there are few surprises. We’ve covered the retirements fairly thoroughly. And we’ll try to do a detailed breakdown for each area soon. But, a quick check shows that some of our friends aren’t being challenged while others are. The seats with the most names on the ballot are House districts 194, 195 and 199 and Senate district 22. The first two each have seven Democrats and a single Republican while the latter House district has seven Republicans and one Democrat. The Senate district also has seven Democrats with one lone Republican.