Debunking the Argument that Dan Onorato Supports Sportsmen

In the next few months, you’re going to hear about how Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato is plenty pro-gun.  But how much of that is really true?

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.