American Gun Owners Alliance responds to claims they endorsed an anti-gun Democrat

Last week, we posted a story based upon a newspaper article that suggested a pro-gun group we’d never heard of endorsed an anti-gun Democrat in Pennsylvania’s US Senate race.  We wrongly chalked it up to the group just being another one of those supposedly pro-gun front groups that the anti-gun folks love to use around election time.  We’ve seen it plenty of times before.

The head of the American Gun Owners Alliance, David “DC” Dalton, contacted us and expressed his concern relating to our mistake and we’ve offered him an opportunity to share not only an introduction to his group, but also an explanation of what happened.

Once again, we regret lumping a genuine pro-gun group in with past “fake” pro-gun groups.  We’re here to bolster fellow grassroots gun rights groups.  With that in mind, we welcomed Mr. Dalton’s side of the story.

Did A Pro-Gun Organization Really ‘Endorse’ An Anti-Gun Candidate In PA?

by DC Dalton
Founder of the American Gun Owners Alliance
It has been widely reported over the past few weeks that the American Gun Owners Alliance, a national pro-gun organization based in Pennsylvania, had endorsed the Democratic candidate, Katie McGinty, for senate. Yes that makes no sense on the surface and factually it is incorrect. How do I know?  Because I am the founder of AMGOA and I did the interview with Marc Levy from the Associated Press.

We normally don’t comment on individual races but being based in PA the topic hits home so I spoke with Mr. Levy on August 25th. We spoke for well over 45 minutes. In that interview I laid out the case for why Toomey should not be re-elected. When asked if I would ‘tell our people’ to vote for McGinty, I stated “No, we will give them the facts and our perspective and let them decide for themselves.”  As sometimes happens, Mr. Levy ignored that comment and wrote that we were encouraging our members to back McGinty.  Such is dealing with reporters.

What has happened since that interview came out is editor after editor ‘hacking away’ at the article making it fit their agenda. I knew it could happen and I have no regrets but I also know the reason behind our thinking and the facts. So what are the real issues?

First off let’s look at who is backing whom in the race. McGinty is backed by the state level organization CeaseFire PA, a rabid anti gun group that we have clashed with on many occasions. They have little to no power outside the state.

[Editor’s note:  We’ve got those yahoos in Illinois too, and sadly, they are state-funded.]

Toomey is backed by Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun regime and Gabby Gifford’s anti-gun group. Think about that for a second. McGinty is a rabid gun hater. She wants an ‘assault weapon’ ban, 10 round magazine limit and universal background checks. Toomey has shot gun owners in the back before but even he isn’t as off the hook as McGinty. So why then are Bloomberg and Giffords backing Toomey? Why aren’t they backing someone that is preaching their sermon? The answer is power in Washington.

If Toomey gets re-elected two things are going to happen. First off he becomes a second term senator, a second term that comes with a lot more power. He will sit on quite a few committees that could decide if gun bills make it to the floor for a vote. With him then beholden to Bloomberg and Giffords for helping him get re-elected the consequences could be devastating. He has showed his ‘true colors’ before with the Manchin-Toomey universal background check bill and his backing of one of the ‘no fly – no buy’ bills this year. He even participated in that ridiculous ‘sit in’ on the Senate floor over gun control. So now that Bloomberg is ‘pulling the strings’ which Pat Toomey will we get? We think we know which one.

Secondly the Republican party in Pennsylvania will see that they can win even if their candidates are anti-gun, effectively silencing our voices in future elections. When asked about this by Kim Stolfer, the president of Firearms Owners Against Crime, the largest pro-gun organization in the state, eight current Republican legislators said yes, gun rights voters would no longer matter to the party. Let’s face it, they don’t care how they win, just that they want to win.

There has been a saying in Pennsylvania for some time, “We are one bad election away from becoming New Jersey”, and that election could be this one.

With a win for Toomey not only does Bloomberg and Giffords get ‘their man’ in Washington, they could also flip Pennsylvania into the anti-gun column for many years to come. Anti-gun ‘Republicans’ will come out of the woodwork at both the state and federal level. With a Democratic governor that doesn’t bode well.

They (Bloomberg & Giffords) are playing the ‘long game’ and most gun owners don’t see it. All most gun owners seem to see is D or R on the ballot. They hold their nose and pull the lever for the R column but what they don’t see is the chess game the anti-gun groups are playing. They are trying to think four moves ahead of us and we have to start thinking the same way. They know exactly what they are doing by backing Toomey.

If, however, McGinty gets elected her power in Washington will be limited as a junior senator. She can scream all she wants but that’s about the extent of her power. That’s why Bloomberg and Giffords are not backing her. They need someone with power in Washington answering to them.

This is not, by the way, some wild theory we came up with on our own. We have discussed this issue with several other pro-gun groups in the state and they agree. The republican party in Pennsylvania must be told with a very clear voice that we will not stand for this type of nonsense from a so-called Republican legislator. Whether that means not voting for either of them, writing in ‘2A’ or voting for McGinty we must stand up and say enough is enough!

About The American Gun Owners Alliance
AMGOA was founded in 2013 as a means to help gun owners understand the challenges to their rights at the state and federal level. We monitor all 50 states and the federal government on a daily basis for new pro and anti-gun legislation as well as other firearm related information. We have the largest firearm related web site in the world with well over 170,000 pages of laws, legislation and firearm information.