Gun Owners Slam Utah's Senator Hatch

I posted this to a message board on May 5, 2009.

Someone forwarded this message to me that was initiated by http://www.gunowners.org

Friday, May 1, 2009

Gun Owners of America today slammed Senator Orrin Hatch for meddling in a Pennsylvania election.

Senator Hatch this week assailed the candidacy of pro-gun former Representative Pat Toomey, claiming that Toomey could not get elected in Pennsylvania in a race against liberal Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter.

But Orrin Hatch seems more interested in protecting his liberal anti-gun buddy Arlen Specter than he is in electing a real pro-gun conservative.

Pat Toomey served in the U.S. House of Representatives for three terms, before honoring a self-imposed term limit and retiring in 2004. Rep. Toomey was "A" rated by Gun Owners of America during his time in Congress. Even though he was supposedly "too conservative" for the eastern Pennsylvania district he represented, Toomey stood firm on his pro-Second Amendment principles.

Specter, however, is a gun control advocate who has earned a D-rating from Gun Owners of America. That's a travesty, considering that Specter represents the pro-gun state of Pennsylvania. GOA issued a press release today and pointed to two recent events that spark gun owners' ire:

1. Arlen Specter, along with Orrin Hatch, provided the instrumental Republican support to get anti-gun Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed by the Senate. Every time Eric Holder opens his mouth and talks about banning so-called 'assault weapons,' gun owners know they have Specter and Hatch to blame.

2. Specter was also the Republican most responsible for the massive one trillion dollar bailout, the so-called stimulus bill. The bailout contains language that can fund anti-gun activist organizations like ACORN and Moveon.org to the tune of hundreds of millions -- even billions -- of taxpayer dollars.

The bailout also contains a provision which can require doctors to retroactively put confidential medical records in a government database. Medical records have already been used to deny about 200,000 military veterans their Second Amendment rights, and that situation will be made worse for all citizens thanks to the Specter bailout bill.

Perhaps no single Senator is negatively affecting the future of this country more than Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, but following in a close second is Orrin Hatch. Orrin Hatch masquerades as a pro-gun conservative in Utah, but in Washington he acts just like his liberal Senate comrades. How dare he meddle in an election against a real pro-gun conservative in favor of his anti-gun pal!

A shorter version of this article written by John Velleco was posted to their website on May 8, 2009.

Gun Owners of America has 2 million members and tries to differentiate itself from the National Rifle Association which has 5.5 million members.

Incumbent Republican-turned-Democrat U.S. Senator Arlen Specter ran for reelection to a sixth term in 2010, but lost in the Democratic primary to Joe Sestak.  Republican Pat Toomey won the Senate seat with 51% of the vote.  In 2010, Republicans gained 7 Senate seats but Democrats retained their majority with 51 seats plus 2 independents who caucused with them.

Pat Toomey retired from the U.S. House of Representatives after 3 terms.  Since House terms are for 2 years each, that would be a total of 6 years or the same as one term in the Senate.

In my book, I suggest these term limits:

A member of the House of Representatives shall be limited to six two year terms, not to exceed twelve years. If any member will reach the maximum time before their term is over, they shall immediately resign on the day they reach twelve years in office.  A member of the Senate shall be limited to three six year terms, not to exceed eighteen years. If a Senator reaches the maximum time before their term is over, they shall immediately resign on the day they reach eighteen years in office.

Eric Holder was confirmed as U.S. Attorney General by a vote of 75-21.  A slight majority of Republicans voted against him.

Susan Collins (Maine), Olympia Snowe (Maine) and Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania) were the only Republicans to vote for the Recovery Act stimulus package.  Although, it still passed by a vote of 61-37.