Minnesota’s Tim Walz, Burns Gun Owners, Locks Arms With Bloomberg & Schumer

Opinion

Minnesota – -(AmmoLand.com)- Governor’s races matter a lot to Second Amendment supporters. Governors can be the last line of defense against passage of legislation that places onerous burdens on our Second Amendment rights. They have the ability to set the tone for how the Second Amendment is discussed in a given state. In addition, governorships have been a launching pad for presidential campaigns. Governors also have the power to make appointments to fill vacant seats for their state in the United States Senate. So, governors have a national impact.

The race in Minnesota is one of 36 states holding gubernatorial elections this year (three U.S. territories are also holding them). Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, no friend of our Second Amendment rights, is term-limited out. Running to replace him are former RNC Committeeman Jeff Johnson, a Hennepin County Commissioner, and Congressman Tim Walz. Like Second Amendment champion Marsha Blackburn, Walz, elected in 2006, had a track record of supporting our Second Amendment rights and decided to use his service in the House of Representatives to serve as a springboard to higher office – in this case, governor.

However, to do so, he has turned his back on law-abiding gun owners. In fact, for the most part, Tim Walz has done a complete 180 on you gun rights.

Why? Because rather than stand on his track record and trust that Second Amendment supporters would repay loyalty, he chose to lick his finger and put it in the air, and pander.

A copy of a January 1 statement available at Project Vote Smart he made as he was running in the primary for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s nomination for governor lays out his current status as a puppet for Chuck Schumer and Michael Bloomberg avowed enemies of our Second Amendment rights. Walz has come out against allowing school districts to use federal funds to arm teachers. This was preceded by his decision to oppose HR 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, with the spurious justification that it had been added to the Fix NICS Act.

Now, it’s not fun to have to go through a background check (a form of prior restraint) to acquire a firearm. Firearms ownership is the primary way we exercise our Second Amendment rights. The National Instant Check System, though, came about because anti-Second Amendment forces in this country had gained enough votes to push the Brady Act through – and sunsetting the five-day waiting period after five years was the best that could be done at the time.

Making fixes to the system, which failed to prevent at least one prohibited person from acquiring a firearm used in a mass shooting, had to be done. That being said, it did not hurt to also push for concealed carry reciprocity at the same time. Walz could have stood with Second Amendment supporters in what was a good piece of legislation.

Walz’s anti-Second Amendment dance is not the first time Second Amendment supporters have seen this sort of turncoat behavior. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York was once a solid Second Amendment supporter when she won in 2006. But when she became a Senator, she became a Schumer puppet. Sadly, even a track record cannot be a 100 percent guarantee. It beats a questionnaire, though, as was the case with Larry Hogan.

The good news is that Second Amendment supporters have a choice. Jeff Johnson has made strong declarations of support for our Second Amendment rights, according to his campaign web site. Second Amendment supporters have learned a bitter lesson in betrayal from Walz’s waltz with Schumer and Bloomberg, but they have a chance to teach him a big lesson in by voting this November.

About Harold Hutchison

Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.

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