I'll try to make this brief...
During a visit to my local grocery store over the weekend I picked up a copy of "Handguns" magazine - The 2009 Annual Ultimate Gun Buyers Guide edition. I'm a progressive who is pro-gun rights, and on occasion I like to read the major gun magazines, particularly the special issues.
Continue Reading Below....
Well, late on Sunday, when I found some quiet time, I decided to thumb through the buyers guide to see what kind of products were available. Low & behold, on page 21, I ran across a blatantly misleading anti-Obama ad from the "National Shooting Sports Foundation" or NSSF. Their website is www.NSSF.org. I don't know much about this organization, since i'm not a hardcore gun guy. But it appears to be a significant trade group. And the ad is likely running in several different gun magazines, including hunting magazines. Many of the major magazines of this genre are owned by the same parent companies. And there are at least 7 or 8 major national gun magazines with a healthy readership.
The ad reads as follows:
SOME CHANGE WE CAN DO WITHOUT
Barack Obama Has Supported (ie. will support)
* A Total Ban On Handguns
* A Ban On the Sale or Transfer of All Semi-Auto Firearms
* A Ban On Right-to-Carry Permits
* A Ban on Firearms Kept In The Home
* And Much, Much More
The Supreme Court Second Amendment Decision Is Not The End of the Battle. It's Just the Beginning.
Don't Risk Your Rights!
Register To Vote Today!
Then the ad directs readers to a voter registration page on the NSSF website:
www.nssf.org/register
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The ad is clearly full of lies and distortions, and I can smell the Republican Party behind it. Ironically, Obama supported the recent Right to Keep Arms ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court - the very case that the ad is referring to. This could become a problem for Obama if he doesn't respond to these false ads. It might be a good idea for him to fight these smears, especially in States like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and Missouri, where the Middle class White vote is strong and hard for him to win over already...and where gun rights are important to at least some of those same voters. These are areas where he needs to do well & where he will need a fair playing field (or at least as fair as is possible considering the racial dynamics of this election).
The magazine is available in major grocery stores across the country. I would have made a jpeg of the ad & magazine cover, but I don't have a scanner. And there is no photo of the mag cover online, because it's a new issue.
But the cover reads Handguns - and below that it reads "2009 Annual Ultimate Gun Buyers Guide".
the UPC Code # is: 0 7098934837 0
In the UPC box, retailers are advised to "Display until December 2, 2008"
Other topics listed on the cover:
Holsters
One-handed shooting
Future of the Revolver
Replica Guns
Balistics Tables