David Keene, the recently elected President of the National Rifle Association, sat down with Washington Journal to discuss the NRA’s role in elections past and present. With callers chiming in, the topics ranged from current efforts to ban magazines, which players already on the field for 2012 have records supporting the Second Amendment, and what role women play in the nation’s oldest civil rights organization.

Nearly half of all voters (44 percent) say they listened for the NRA’s message all, most, or some of the time. …

A sizeable 42 percent of independents also listened for the message of the NRA.

Among those who attend church weekly, … a 57 percent majority say they listened for the NRA’s message.

…a very strong majority of tea party voters (76 percent) say they listened for the NRA’s message.

[Among small business owners,] 53 percent majority said they listened for NRA’s message as well.

“These numbers show that the tea party and the NRA were the two major voices that influenced voter opinion in the midterm elections,” said Brad O’Leary, publisher of The O’Leary Report.

According to the report, more than two thousand voters were polled and the margin of error is approximately 2 points.

Rob Ciervo HAS been endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund, and his opponent decided to vote against gun owners & self-defense advocates on every single vote of his (hopefully) short legislative career. He is running to represent Newtown, Yardley, Lower Makefield & parts of Upper Makefield in State House District 31. Incumbent Rep. Santarsiero’s grade is now a D, and he has run to anti-gun groups seeking their support for his campaign. Gun owners in and around this area can support Rob Ciervo’s campaign by visiting his website.

Tommy Tomlinson running for re-election to Senate District 6 is now rated B+ and is NOT endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund. His recent vote to restrict the reciprocity agreements of concealed carry license holders was an unexpected vote against gun owners in Southeast Pennsylvania. If you’d like to contact Sen. Tomlinson and ask him why he voted against sportsmen in his district, his office number is (717) 787-5072 and his email address is rtomlinson@pasen.gov.

Here are all of the endorsed candidates on ballots in Bucks County & the rest of Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional district:

Federal
US Senate – Pat Toomey
Congress – Mike Fitzpatrick

State
Governor – Tom Corbett

State House

• Marguerite Quinn
• Frank Farry
• Rob Ciervo
• Paul Clymer
• Gene DiGirolamo

State Senate

• Chuck McIlhinney

Between the 5-4 decision in the McDonald case and the confirmation hearings on the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court this week, this commentary from Sarah Palin at last month’s NRA Annual Meeting is a reminder that gun owners cannot afford to sit out of any elections.

But showing up a your polling place isn’t enough if you really have the drive to win. We must get involved with campaigns. It’s not a particularly challenging task, nor does it have to be hugely time-consuming.

Giving just a couple of hours a month to make phone calls to registered voters will give you the power to reach hundreds of families who can turn up on Election Day to vote for your candidate. Knocking on doors for just a couple of hours a month will reach dozens of voters who will be left with a reminder that real people – some of their neighbors – are dedicated enough to support the right candidates on the ballot. If you’ve got special skills, such as web design experience, you could offer to help out smaller campaigns by plugging holes that their campaign coffers are not yet big enough to fill.

But even if you have no time or money to dedicate to pro-gun candidates, make sure you show up on Election Day. Tell your friends and family. Remember that elections do matter.

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.

Learning from the defeat of his anti-gun ally in Massachusetts, Obama has decided to activate his political arm early in the 2010 races to avoid seeing another headline-making loss like Martha Coakley in January. It was argued at the time that he didn’t send in support early enough to help turn out voters in the special election. For November, OFA plans to start in June to keep future Scott Brown-style wins from happening around the country.

Looking at the math they presented to supporters earlier this week, it makes sense why they would want to activate their 2008 network again.

They point out that first time voters turn out at much lower levels in midterms than regular voters. They realize that they cannot recreate the excitement and turnout of the historic 2008 election, so they have studied how many of those voters they really need to reach in order to flip elections in Obama’s favor.

Looking at Ohio, and a further subset study of their 15th Congressional District, they found that turning out just 8% more of the first time voters from 2008 would result in an increase of 2 points for their candidate at the polls in November. They just have to find 5,000 extra votes from the 57,000 they registered in the district in 2008.

Using their example of OH-15, they are targeting NRA A rated former Congressman Steve Stivers who is running to take back his old seat. He lost the 2008 election by a mere 2,300 votes out of nearly 304,000 cast – less than .8 points. The momentum of 2010 puts the wind at his back against F rated Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy who voted for controversial legislation like health care reform after barely winning the seat. If Obama’s team can boost voter turnout for anti-gun Kilroy by 2 points, her seat is safer than it otherwise might be in a year of anti-incumbent attitudes.

In Pennsylvania, there are more competitive seats than any other state in the nation. In some areas, the incumbents are supportive of the Second Amendment. If OFA manages to increase turnout in these tight elections, they could swing these seats to anti-gun candidates. In other races, the fighting challengers are the pro-gun voices, and Obama’s team will drag out every vote they can to keep their anti-gun leaders in office.

If you’re ready to help us turn out the vote for pro-gun candidates, sign up with your local Election Volunteer Coordinator so we can let you know about the opportunities in your area.

Jonathan Jenkins, whose campaign for the State House we recently profiled, is asking volunteers from any corner of the state to contact his campaign and either phone bank from home or help prepare mailings to voters in the district. He has created scripts and phone bank lists that can be downloaded, as well as a print-at-home mailer.

Gubernatorial candidate Sam Rohrer has also added a call from home service to his campaign website. Register with his campaign, download a guide, and start dialing if you want to help Rep. Rohrer run for the state’s top office.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, both major candidates featured at home phone banking software for supporters. Long after phone bank hours ended in Pennsylvania, supporters could log on and dial into other competitive states in the West to squeeze in a couple extra hours of volunteer time. Dozens of households and hundreds of voters can be reached by an active phone banker in an hour. Allowing them to take part for a few more hours each week or continue working even when the weather is bad or they don’t have time to make the drive to a campaign center meant that campaigns had near limitless possibilities in reaching new voters.

As resources are condensed after the primary in May, it is likely that more campaigns will turn to campaign from home tools. When they do, we’ll make sure to keep you informed. Even if the rain keeps you indoors, today’s technology can keep you connected and active.

Ever since Massachusetts Senate candidate Scott Brown launched his $500,000 money bomb day that turned into a million-dollar money bomb week, pundits have noted the “enthusiasm gap” between Sen. Brown and his rival, Attorney General Martha Coakley. You can read the articles, or you can see it visualized in this video:

Enthusiasm doesn’t always result in electoral success. However, it can make a difference in inspiring others to get involved which reminds people to vote which gets them out to the polls. Make your enthusiasm for gun rights useful in 2010 and lend a hand to your local pro-gun candidates when you can.

Yup, that’s it. Show up to the voting booth, push the button/pull the lever/fill in the oval, and remind your family to do the same.

That seems simple, right? Well, it usually is. Unfortunately, it looks like some folks in Virginia forgot about that important step in Tuesday’s special election to fill a state Senate seat.

… [The] point in the article was that just because the GOP won a major victory by sweeping all three statewide offices and picking up seats in the House of Delegates, you still have to do the work and turnout the vote. It is clear from the election returns that those inclined to support [NRA endorsed candidate Steve] Hunt simply did not show up at the polls yesterday in those areas where they could have made a difference – precincts that [A+ rated former Sen.] Ken Cuccinelli carried in 2007.

According to blogger Not Larry Sabato – Hunt flipped several precincts that Cuccinelli’s 2007 opponent carried but had little or no margin of victory in precincts that Cuccinelli carried. Hunt also was skunked in the absentee ballots, losing them by almost 500 votes in an election that he lost by a total of 317 votes.

The lesson Pascoe points out to the GOP rings true for gun owners as well. Every election is important and we must be engaged in those races where we can make a difference.

David Adams, president of the Virginia Shooting Sports Association & NRA-EVC in Virginia’s 7th District, continues to outline just what this means for Virginia’s gun owners.

• A previously A+ rated seat has now switched to F rated in the state Senate; and
• An open seat on the Senate Courts of Justice Committee which determines whether many of the pro- or anti- gun bills are released for a full Senate vote.

This is not good news for gun owners in Virginia.  Some might have forgotten it was the date of a special election, but that’s not going to help for the next session.  Since Virginia has off-year elections, they won’t vote on this seat again in 2010.  There’s no correcting the mistake until at least 2011.

In Pennsylvania, we have several special elections scheduled the same day as the primary election.  Make sure you show up so that our gun rights are not forgotten.

The NRA Political Victory Fund recently endorsed these candidates for various judicial races:

Commonwealth Court: Kevin Brobson & Patricia McCullough

Superior Court: Sallie Mundy, Judy Olson & Temp Smith

Earlier this year, NRA-PVF also endorsed Joan Orie Melvin for Supreme Court.

If you need to look up your local polling location, do so here.

If you would like more information about the voting system in your county, check out the latest guides for your county.

Turnout in these elections is always low, so your vote is more powerful today than in busier Congressional election years. Don’t waste it!

But if you want to stand up for freedom, this election has at least one race on the ballot statewide that is likely to make a direct difference for our gun rights.

The NRA Political Victory Fund endorsed Judge Joan Orie Melvin for Supreme Court earlier this year.

The election of a pro-rights candidate to the Supreme Court is vital as gun owners around the state challenge their town leaders who are passing illegal gun control ordinances. Thirteen years ago, the Court ruled that when the Legislature passed firearms preemption, local gun laws could not stand. This meant that Philadelphia couldn’t ban people from carrying lawfully to protect themselves, hunters crossing the state didn’t need to worry if their firearm was legal as they crossed each county line, and if a sport shooter moved to another town, he would have the same protections for his gun rights.

Right now, mayors under the leadership of NYC’s Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun group are challenging that ruling by passing local ordinances ranging from “lost-and-stolen gun” laws forcing gun owners to prove their innocence in several towns around the state to semi-auto gun bans in Philadelphia & even Pittsburgh. These efforts have been challenged in lower courts, and some gun owners may well end up taking their cases to the Supreme Court in coming years. Should that happen, it is important to have Justices who believe in the rule of law and recognize that the state legislature has long held control over the issue of our gun rights.

If you can help at all by either putting up a sign or lending a hand to make a few voter phone calls, sign up through her webpage here. It’s not too late to lend a hand.

UPDATE: NRA-PVF has also announced they have endorsed the following judicial candidates:

Commonwealth Court: Kevin Brobson & Patricia McCullough
Superior Court: Sallie Mundy, Judy Olson & Temp Smith

For all of you who took a few hours to contribute to the campaign, a much bigger thanks goes out to you. Turnout was key in the special election, and whether you knocked on doors, made phone calls, or just reminded your pro-freedom friends and family to vote, you made a difference. Even those of you who didn’t have time to contribute, but who put on a bumper sticker or put out a sign, it was an important show of support for a worthy candidate.

Special elections are a time when gun owners can really shine. The Reporter says that turnout was just under 13% for the special election in Montgomery County. Tallies from the other three counties are likely on par, or lower. With less than 19,000 people voting, a handful of pro-gun votes can make a huge difference. More importantly, a few pro-gun volunteers who tell the candidate why they turned out can leave a lasting impression that we do work for our rights, and we will work for politicians who work to protect our rights.

The next elections are municipal elections on November 3. Again, turnout is usually extremely low. Voters in House district 147 will likely face another special election sometime after that to elect a replacement for Rep. Mensch once he is sworn into the Senate.

The district is a rather odd one, so double check your status as a resident to find out if you need to be at the polls tomorrow.

Polls will be open from 7am to 8pm. If you need assistance in learning about your county’s voting system, the state has provided an easy guide to help you understand it.

• Bucks County
• Montgomery County
• Lehigh County
• Northampton County

If you can volunteer even a few hours today or tomorrow to assist Bob’s campaign, please visit his website for the latest contact information.

On Sept. 29, voters who normally cast ballots at Zion Lutheran Church must report to Springfield Church of the Bretheren at 920 Passer Road.

Voters affected by the temporary change will receive special postcards in the mail.

—
Local media outlets report that polling locations in upper Bucks County could be moved just before a special election for the region’s Senate seat in district 24. The decision will likely be approved at tonight’s Board of Elections meeting. At this time, it appears to primarily impact Quakertown elementary schools which previously housed polls on Election Day.

The Bucks County Board of Elections is expected to vote at its Tuesday meeting to relocate these polls. If approved, the school district would no longer have to cancel classes on election days.

This issue came to a head this month when the district realized there would be significant scheduling problems and a cost associated with the special Sept. 29 election for the 24th state Senate District, a seat vacated with the resignation of Rob Wonderling. …

The following are the proposed polling place changes to be approved by the election board:

• Neidig Elementary to Trinity Lutheran Church, 102 N. Hellertown Ave.
• Quakertown Elementary to the James A. Michener branch of the Bucks County Library, 401 W. Mill St.
• Tohickon Valley Elementary to East Swamp Church, 2405 East Swamp Rd.
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• Richland Elementary to Strayer Middle School, 1200 Ronald Reagan Dr.

Although Strayer is a Quakertown district school, the building has a separate section that can accommodate voters without interfering with students. …

There is one other proposed polling place change associated with the special election.

The county is expected to move Springfield voters who normally cast ballots at Zion Lutheran Church to Springfield Church of the Brethren at 920 Passer Rd.

Zion Lutheran cannot accommodate voters on Sept. 29. The move, if approved Tuesday, would be temporary and voters would be back at Zion Lutheran for the general election on Nov. 3.

Should there be changes made to these proposed locations, we will notify the area’s gun owners.

The special election for the region’s Senate district currently has no endorsed candidate. The Republican nominee, Rep. Bob Mensch, has previously been endorsed for his House seat and maintained an A rating for his work on behalf of Pennsylvania’s sportsmen. The Democratic nominee, Anne Scheuring, has no voting record or grade at this time. Barbara Steever, the Libertarian nominee, is also unrated at this time.

According to Bloomberg’s website, there are 103 mayors in Pennsylvania in the group that make up almost one-quarter of his entire coalition. When the federal concealed carry amendment was up for debate and the Pennsylvania coalition of mayors sent a letter to Senators Casey and Specter, we posted a list of mayors in the 8th & 13th Congressional districts. It’s been one of the most popular pages on the site. More than a few folks had no idea their mayor was spending part of his/her July campaigning against concealed carry rights.

Who are Bloomberg’s Mayors?

Some of Pennsylvania’s Bloomberg mayors were found in unexpected places. Check out this list of all 103 mayors listed on the site as of August 15. That’s 103 mayors too many, but there are some surprises.

View Bloomberg’s Anti-Gun Mayors in Pennsylvania in a larger map

It might surprise people to see that most of the mayors who support Michael Bloomberg are not in the Philadelphia suburbs. In fact, 32% of the mayors are in far western Congressional districts. Of all of the Congressional districts with more than half a dozen mayors, half of them are in or border Allegheny County. It would appear as though Mayor Bloomberg or a Pennsylvania surrogate has been on a serious recruiting spree in the Pittsburgh region.

Mayor Mike’s coalition here in Pennsylvania represents less than 3 million residents of more than 12 million in the state. In fact, the average population of the town with a Bloomberg mayor is 28,643. If you remove the cities with more than 100,000 residents (the top 4), that average drops to only 9,856. In fact, 18 mayors represent towns and boroughs with less than 1,000 people. More than 50 represent towns of less than 5,000. A full 70% of the mayors in Bloomberg’s army lead towns of less than 10,000 people. That’s hardly a big city mayor coalition. This is a winnable fight to take back our towns.

Turning Up the Heat on Election Day

One huge benefit to municipal races is that voter turnout is extremely low. Looking at Bucks County (most of the 8th Congressional District), we find that the county-wide 2007 municipal races had turnout of only 29% compared to 76% in November’s presidential race or even 57% in the last off-year Congressional election. In Montgomery County (most of the 13th Congressional District), voter turnout for municipal races in 2007 was at 30% as compared to the November general at 73% and 2006 Congressional (off-year) race at 55%.

Typically, only the most active partisans turn out for local elections if they are not held alongside major statewide or national races. This makes the prospect of giving the boot to local mayors even easier – and sometimes the threat of a challenge is even more useful than an actual get out the vote effort.

If you live in one of the towns governed by a Bloomberg mayor or know a gun owner who does, it may not be hard to turn an election. Get the rest of the family to vote, and tell friends about the other candidates who may be more friendly to Second Amendment rights. One active resident may single-handedly turn it into a landslide. Imagine the impact putting a flier in the local gun shop where all the local sportsmen hang out. In an election when many of them aren’t likely turning out to the polls, they might suddenly become a local voting bloc worthy of some campaign time.

Knowing Your Neighborhood Issues

Finally, one of the biggest benefits to local races is the fact that you are closer to most of the other voters. As a resident, you know what frustrates your neighbors, encourage them to get out to the polls on that issue. Don’t restrict yourself to talking about gun rights. Change begins at home, and you know better than some worker down in Fairfax what’s really got the non-gun owners on your block upset. Remember, just like you probably don’t vote in municipal elections, they probably don’t, either. That means your whole neighborhood just put itself on the map for better treatment and more attention from local officials. (Remember, party officials and leaders can tell who turned out to vote through the voter rolls. To the winners go the spoils, so get yourself some spoils by simply showing up.)

Why Wait until Election Day?

Of course, the other benefit to local government is that it may not even require defeating the mayor in an election. The candidates and parties know turnout is consistently a problem. Angering residents for absolutely no reason is something they cannot afford to do. One or two phone calls from upset residents may be enough to convince them to leave. A handful of phone calls in the mayor’s office will really shake things up in mid-sized town.

If the town has a gun club or range, the opportunities are even greater. Members can call regardless of where they live. They can still claim to be involved with the town, and more importantly, they would be happy to spread word about such anti-gun views come campaign time. There’s a good chance that local mayors have no idea what Mayor Bloomberg has signed them onto, and reason will likely prevail.

Consider the situation with former Williamsport, PA mayor Mary Wolf who publicly left the group in 2007. This New York Sun article quotes a local gun dealer who found out about her membership and made some phone calls about it. Imagine a few signs up at the gun range, getting staff or club officers to let all the residents who come in know about a mayor’s involvement.

Outreach is Key

How many of the 684 residents of Ulysses know that Mayor Jane Haskins was campaigning against concealed carry and has supported lawsuits that put gun shops out of business?

Or how about the 290 residents of Laporte with Mayor Robert Carpenter and 153 residents of Eagles Mere with Mayor Betty Hays?

Are the gun owners among the 626 residents of Marianna aware that Mayor Russell LaRew signed on to support such initiatives?

With only 1,921 people in all of Industry, would it really take much pressure to convince Mayor Nicholas Yanosich that he should stand up for the Constitution instead of against it?

Isn’t it possible to get word out to Mayor Jay Stover in Telford that he shouldn’t be working against the rights of his 4,680 citizens?

Keep in mind, these numbers are a matter of population, registered voters are far fewer.

Making a Difference Locally…

As one of the largest gun blogs and generally having the ear of the major political blogger Instapundit on the issues, SayUncle was able to successfully make membership in Bloomberg’s group a liability for Knoxville, Tennessee’s Bill Haslam. Unfortunately, targeting most of these mayors won’t be as easy as writing a few blog posts about them.

Some of the mayors legitimately share Bloomberg’s view on gun rights and would like to see them curtailed. Others don’t really know what they signed up for – accounts by some former Bloomberg mayors suggest that it is sold as a group that really does focus on crime issues rather than taking positions against concealed carry and leading lawsuits for third party actions against gun store owners. These mayors simply need to be educated.

…Thinking Nationally

Michael Bloomberg’s mayoral coalition has particular relevance for Pennsylvania’s gun owners. This coalition is one of Bloomberg’s favorite public relations tools, so it would be nice to disable it. He pulled it out to run ads in national newspapers and in letters to Congress asking for more restrictions on our rights.

One of his favorite claims to both the media and other politicians is that the coalition is not just a big city groups since he has pulled more than 450 mayors from across the country to stand with him in his attacks on gun rights. If he has 450 mayors, that means 23% of them are from Pennsylvania! Bloomberg has invested heavily in Pennsylvania’s mayors, and we should be concerned by that fact. What is he hoping to get from that investment? More importantly, what has he already received and what is on the immediate horizon?

Consider the attacks on preemption we’re seeing across Pennsylvania. When cities and towns pass legislation requiring you to report lost or stolen guns in a manner they arbitrarily consider reasonable, it makes gun owners potential victims to abusive prosecutors. Those nine cities are: Erie, Allentown, Reading, Pottsville, Pittsburgh, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Wilkinsburg. Guess how many of those cities have mayors in the coalition? Nine.

Some of these mayors also have their eye on higher offices. Consider Mayor John Callahan of Bethlehem (population 71,329) who is challenging Congressman Charlie Dent for his seat. Should he be successful (reports indicate he will be a very strong challenger), that seat will go from an A rating to Bloomberg-controlled anti-gun overnight.

While we can’t stop Mayor Callahan until next November, we could see to it that other mayors find the New York-based coalition to be a political liability for future office and convince them to denounce his positions. If they continue to stand by Bloomberg, we can show up at the ballot box and try to put a stop to their political futures by ousting them from the office.

What I hope is that the citizens of Birdsboro convince Mayor Robert Myers to leave Bloomberg’s anti-gun agenda behind (or send him packing if he refuses) so that the 5,064 residents don’t have to fear a patchwork of local laws.

I don’t want the gun owners among the 2,812 residents of Wind Gap to stand confused should Mayor Mitchell Mogilski try to implement Bloomberg’s ideal gun controls in their town.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 72 percent (142 million) of the eligible voting age citizen population (197 million) was registered to vote in 2004.

This means that more than 55 million people were unregistered, and therefore did not participate in the November 2004 elections. This figure is larger than the number of votes cast for either George Bush (50.5 million) or Al Gore (50.9 million) in the 2000 elections.

To support this effort, NRA is working with member Chuck Norris to recruit gun owners to get prepared to hit the polls in time for next year’s primary & general elections.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pennsylvania voters in the 24th State Senate District need to trigger the vote a little earlier than the rest of us. There will be a special election on September 29, 2009. In order to participate, you must register by August 30. In Pennsylvania, you can register any number of ways.

Register to Vote in Person
You can register to vote at a County Voter Registration Office or other designated sites.

Register to Vote by Mail
You can register to vote by mail in two ways:

1. Get a Voter Registration Mail Application form from the state or federal government. The Secretary of the Commonwealth and all county registration commissions supply Voter Registration Mail Applications to all persons and organizations who request them, including candidates, political parties and political bodies and other federal, state and municipal offices.
2. Download the Voter Registration Application. Print, complete, sign and deliver to your County Voter Registration Office by mail or in person.

Register to Vote at PennDOT
You can register to vote at a PA Department of Transportation photo license center when you obtain or update your driver’s license.

Register to Vote at Government Agencies
In addition to PennDOT, you can register to vote at many other state government offices, including:

• State offices that provide public assistance and services to persons with disabilities
• Armed Forces Recruitment Centers
• County Clerk of Orphans’ Court offices, including each Marriage License Bureau
• Area Agencies on Aging
• Centers for Independent Living
• County Mental Health and Mental Retardation offices
• Student disability services offices of the State System of Higher Education
• Offices of Special Education
• DA Complementary Paratransit offices

Find out if your mayor is opposing our rights with this list of area mayors who joined NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. These are the mayors from Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties who joined Michael Bloomberg’s calls for more restrictive gun laws:

• Ambler – Bud Wahl (215) 628-2654
• Doylestown – Libby White (215) 345-4140
• Hatboro – Norm Hawkes (215) 443-9100
• Philadelphia – Michael Nutter (215) 686-1776
• Telford – Jay Stover (215) 723-3008

If you live in one of these towns, please contact your mayor and ask why they are actively opposing gun rights.  We often overlook the local politicians, believing that they do not make a significant difference in the debate.  However, these mayors banded together to send letters to Pennsylvania’s senators asking for their opposition to concealed carry.  These mayors support the efforts of Michael Bloomberg to put lawful gun stores out of business by filing lawsuits blaming them for the crimes of others.

If they claim they did not support these actions, demand that they remove themselves from Michael Bloomberg’s group of mayors.  They will join many mayors from across the country who realized the error of their ways, that Michael Bloomberg was taking policy positions in their name that they did not support.  If they do support it, mobilize gun owners in your town to change up your local government.  A handful of votes will make a difference in local elections due to low turnout.

First, of our endorsed incumbents, gun owners should congratulate State Reps. Paul Clymer and Gene DiGirolamo and Attorney General Tom Corbett. Tom Corbett’s re-election is particularly noteworthy to concealed carry license holders in the our district given the control over license reciprocity for the state’s gun owners. His opponent was F-rated and could have done significant damage to our progress on the issue. (Both opponents of the endorsed state representatives refused to return questionnaires.)

However, our non-incumbent endorsed candidates did not fare as well. Both happened to be Republican, and it was not a year where the stars were lined up for Republicans at the federal level. Tom Manion was defeated by anti-gun Patrick Murphy and John McCain was defeated by the most anti-gun presidential candidate in our history. We will spend the next two years informing gun owners of Patrick Murphy’s terrible record on our issue.

In at least one race with no endorsement, we seem to have improved our representation in Harrisburg for the residents of 142. Frank Farry, who forgot to return the questionnaire to NRA but sent a personal statement to NRA members that included a pledge to create a sportsmen’s council to advise him on our issues, defeated incumbent Chris King. King’s grade had dropped from an A- to a C- during his term. (Gun owners who may have contacted King over his short term in the PA House may recognize his treatment of constituents on display last night – he refused to attend his own watch party and thank his supporters or congratulate Frank Farry.)

The only other district to change hands was 31, and that was due to the retirement of an endorsed candidate. Unfortunately, for those residents, neither Pete Stainthorpe nor Steve Santarsiero returned questionnaires earning an endorsement. In fact, Stainthorpe did not return it at all. The eventual winner, Santarsiero, was given a B rating. Now it’s up to gun owners to let him know that they would like to see that grade go higher through his votes.

Our next election in 2010 will not only give us another opportunity to return the 8th District back into a pro-gun Congressional seat, but we will also be looking at a race for the Governor’s Mansion, as well as state Senate seats in the area, and all of the state House seats again. For the next two years, my focus will be on outreach and education. In speaking with many gun owners from Quakertown to Philadelphia, I found that many simply did not realize how lower ticket candidates had voted on their rights. Next time, we will educate even more gun owners for even higher turnout.

In the meantime, check back here for reports on how our local representatives are involved in all of the big gun news from the DC Beltway back to Harrisburg.

If you can give as little as 3 hours of your time between now and election day, we can make sure that NRA candidates are elected here.

Just fill out the volunteer form below and we’ll get in touch with you about the opportunities in your area.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

If you are a gun owner in SE Pennsylvania, stop by the NRA Election Volunteer Coordinator booth.  Get election materials before it’s too late, and pick up information about the endorsed candidates from NRA.