Missouri: A Talent For Protecting Freedom

It’s not an idle threat. Leading national anti-gun Democrats in Washington are making Jim Talent’s defeat their number one priority, because they see him as their linchpin to seizing control of the U.S. Senate.

As a result, this U.S. Senate race is likely to be one of the costliest and most contentious races in the United States in 2006.

“We’re calling on every NRA member, and counting on every Missouri gun owner, to register to vote now, and on Tuesday, Nov. 7, to re-elect Jim Talent to the U.S. Senate,” said NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox.

That’s a stance that’s heartily endorsed by NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.

“For eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives, and for his entire term in the U.S. Senate, Jim Talent has consistently voted to uphold our Right to Keep and Bear Arms,” Cox said. “Now this pro-gun leader needs your help to continue fighting for our beliefs on Capitol Hill. Because without your help, he could be defeated by a Democrat with a clear anti-gun stance.”

In his short time in the U.S. Senate, Jim Talent has already cast 18 pro-gun votes. In his eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives, he cast no fewer than 31 pro-gun and pro-hunting votes, earning him a solid “a” rating from NRA-PVF

In his U.S. House and Senate career, Jim Talent has voted to:

» protect hunting and fishing on huge tracts of public land in the Mojave Desert;

» reject the Clinton gun ban;

» protect hunting and fishing on national wildlife refuges;

» block bans on firearm ownership in crime-ridden public housing projects;

» block taxpayer funding of political anti-gun “research” by the Centers for Disease Control;

» reform federal migratory-bird hunting regulations to prevent over-zealous enforcement officers from entrapping innocent hunters;

» protect the tradition of American gun shows from regulations that could ultimately shut them down;

» give active and retired law enforcement officers the Right-to-Carry nationwide;

» protect centerfire rifle hunting ammunition from a ban sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy;

» protect America’s gun manufacturers and retailers from predatory lawsuits through the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act;

» prohibit local authorities from confiscating lawfully owned firearms during states of emergency or disaster, as they did in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

For citizens of the “Show Me State,” actions do indeed speak far louder than words--and Jim Talent has proven his commitment to their freedoms in both word and deed.

Born and raised in Missouri, Jim Talent was first elected to the state Legislature at the age of 28. After serving in the state House of Representatives in Jefferson City for eight years, Talent went on to win a seat in the U.S. Congress. In 2002, he was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Sen. Talent’s opponent in this November’s election will be State Auditor Claire McCaskill.

Where Talent has been a consistent, committed defender of your Second Amendment rights, Claire McCaskill opposes our Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

As most Missouri gun owners know, Right-to-Carry in Missouri had a difficult birth. First it was defeated in a statewide referendum. Four years later, after winning passage in the Missouri Legislature, it was vetoed by Gov. Bob Holden. The legislature then overrode Holden’s veto--only to have Right-to-Carry challenged in the courts.

And for more than a decade, Claire McCaskill has opposed that right.

“It’s startling to realize this concept came within three votes of passing in the Missouri Senate,” McCaskill said in 1994. “Imagine the carnage that could have been wrought by would-be Dirty Harrys …”

Five years later, following the defeat of Right-to-Carry at the polls, McCaskill said, “Voters understand guns are not the answer for safety.”

McCaskill and her anti-gun stance appear to be winning support from Georgetown to New York City.

If you go to www.opensecrets.org--a website run by the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign contributions--and look at the top metropolitan areas from which the candidates have raised their campaign funds, you’ll see Jim Talent’s number one source is St. Louis, just as you might expect of a Missouri U.S. senator.

By contrast, McCaskill’s number one cash cow is Washington, D.C.--which gave over $3 million--and even New York City was good for nearly another quarter-million dollars.

As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch pointed out, “One small part of New York City--the posh Upper East Side--proved to be McCaskill’s second most profitable zip code, with donors there giving her $63,700.”

In fact, it was a New York politician --extremist anti-gun U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer--who convinced Claire McCaskill to enter the race against Talent in the first place.

Schumer reportedly hounded McCaskill to enter the campaign, but it was only after dining with Schumer in a London restaurant that McCaskill decided to run.

“Anti-gun Democrats want to keep this race off your radar, so that you won’t bother to go to the polls,” warns NRA’s LaPierre, “and that could spell disaster for your freedoms.”

NRA-ILA chief Cox said if Missouri gun owners want to protect their rights, they must get registered and vote on Election Day to keep U.S. Sen. Jim Talent fighting for our freedom in Washington, D.C.