Pat Toomey And Joe Manchin: Once A Gun Controller, Always A Gun Controller
BY Herschel Smith
7 years, 7 months ago
Coopersburg resident Mary Ann Nord was looking for reassurance when one of her senators, Republican Pat Toomey, headed to the microphone Wednesday during a gun-safety advocacy event in downtown Washington.
Nord, a member of the Philadelphia chapter of Moms Demand Action, a nonpartisan group created after the elementary school shooting in Sandy Hook, Conn., is quick to praise Toomey’s work on his 2013 background check bill that stalled in the Senate.
Crafting and pushing that legislation took courage, Nord said. She recalled being in Toomey’s office and hearing the phones ringing with angry callers. But more recently, she’s been underwhelmed by his actions on the issue.
“Since then, it’s not been as clear if he was going to continue to be that kind of an advocate for the cause,” said Nord, who spent Wednesday lobbying Pennsylvania legislators and their staffs. “We have been a little bit discouraged that he hasn’t been more vocal.”
The Lehigh Valley senator told her and others gathered at the Grand Hyatt that he and West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin — his cosponsor on the measure to extend background checks to gun show sales and online purchases — still support the bill and finding a path through Congress.
“We have not been successful yet, but my determination has not diminished and one day we’re going to succeed on this bill,” Toomey told the reception crowd, drawing applause.
The event was part of a two-day summit organized by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and Americans for Responsible Solutions, a group founded by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was severely injured in a 2011 shooting.
Giffords’ group endorsed Toomey during his tightly contested re-election fight due to his efforts on the 2013 gun background check bill. A gun-control advocacy group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg aired pro-Toomey ads, highlighting an issue the senator emphasized as he sought to win over moderate, suburban voters.
He took criticism from gun-rights advocates as a result of the background check bill, and his A rating from the National Rifle Association dropped to a C last year.
His rating should have dropped to F. He should have never had the A rating to begin with, and that was a function of bad judgment by the NRA, something we see time and again.
This goes a long way back with Toomey and Manchin, as it did with Eric Cantor and as it also does with Paul Ryan. The fact that Ryan is House speaker tells us all we need to know about the judgment of other members of the House who supported Ryan’s candidacy for said position.
The gun controllers will never give up, and neither can we. I’m not saying that it’s impossible to truly change, because God can save fallen men. But the reliance on the state for safety and security is a demonstrable indicia of statism and thus fallen and pagan thinking. Men live like the die, and they die like they live. The thief on the cross was a stark exception, but he was just that – an exception.
Toomey and Manchin apparently are the standard, not the exception. Fight them with all your breath, with every ounce of energy, with every cell of your body, and with every prayer in your soul.
On May 5, 2017 at 5:58 am, millerized said:
The NRA is the worlds largest privately funded gun control organization. They are NOT a friend to the firearms owner.
And luckily, this is the last year Manchin will be a political officer in the state of WV, as we’ve had enough of his bullshit. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
On May 5, 2017 at 7:53 am, Dave said:
NRA has a History of “Bad Judgement”
Which is why i dumped my lifetime membership.
And quickly went to GOA
On May 5, 2017 at 11:35 am, Archer said:
His rating should have dropped to F. He should have never had the A rating to begin with, and that was a function of bad judgment by the NRA, something we see time and again.
NRA inflating grades again? Say it ain’t so!
NRA’s grading for Democrats is usually fairly accurate. ‘F’s are ‘F’s, and ‘A’s are either genuinely pro-gun or very good donors.
On the other hand, as a rule of thumb, assume that NRA’s grade for any politician with an ‘R’ after his or her name has been artificially inflated by two grades. RINOs who are lukewarm (at best) on gun rights get ‘A’s when they should get ‘C’s, and GOP backstabbers get ‘C’s when they should get ‘F’s.
This really hurts the pro-gun Republicans — who earn their ‘A’ rating — the most. Just like the guy who starts at minimum wage, earns raises to get $4/hr above it, and who then gets bumped back to the bottom rung when minimum wage goes up $5/hr.
Good people always get shafted when the system is built to cater to the lowest common denominator.
Y’know, like Pat Toomey.
On May 6, 2017 at 8:27 am, Fred said:
The NRA regularly and consistently supports legislation at the state and federal level that infringes on 2A.
On May 6, 2017 at 1:02 pm, Ned said:
NRA’s rating system has proven to be useful as bird cage liner – but I wouldn’t even subject a bird to that crap.
On May 7, 2017 at 9:58 am, DAN III said:
Toomey. Just one of 535 treasonous scum ensconsed within the US CON-gress.
The NRA. Folks, you all act as though the NRA controlled the re-election of the dirtbag. Fact is the morons, errrr voters of Pennsylvania were not influenced one way or the other by the NRA. Multitudes of Pennsylvanians voted like good little sheeple for the incumbent POS Toomey., regardless of NRA input. The NRA is not the problem here. The electorate is.
Quit pointing fingers at the NRA for your political woes. Look in the mirror. Blame your wife, your husband, your children, your friends, your neighbors, etc., for the scum we call “government”. Any citizen with a sense of nationalism knows what the political problem is. It is not the NRA failing to do your job for you. The problem is “YOU” !
On May 7, 2017 at 8:57 pm, Jaque Bauer said:
Until all federal gun control acts and state laws that override the 2nd Amendment are repealed Americans will never be free. Too few Americans know that the Bill of rights is about the people’s rights and not government rights. The NRA has been complicit in the development of federal gun control acts but has also stood in the way of others. It depends on the time in history and the NRA leadership in place at the time. We need both the NRA and GOA and others willing to stand in the way all gun grabbers. Until the 2nd Amendment is restored to its authors intent and meaning we will be enslaved to the security state.