Sam Paredes and I go way back — to my days at President of the California Republican Assembly in the mid-90’s.  There is no one I know who is more passionate about Second Amendment issues than Sam.  Sam has the perfect job — he is Executive Director of Gun Owners of California. 

Today Last month (correction) GOC endorsed Steve Poizner for Governor, and Sam (who has never had trouble with free expression) sent over this piece…

Meg Whitman is a Gun Control Liberal
By Sam Paredes, Executive Director of Gun Owners of California

Every day, shooters and sportsmen are growing more wary of Meg Whitman.  While she’s been struggling to re-assure us, there are just too many red flags.  Her hostility to gun owners as CEO of eBay, her ignorance of basic gun issues, her Schwarzenegger-esque rhetoric, and her endorsement of Barbara Boxer lead me to the conclusion that she’s a left-liberal on the Second Amendment.    

Early in her eBay tenure, Whitman made the decision to completely ban the sale of firearms on the site. 

While I respect the right of private enterprises to make business decisions about product lines, I am concerned by how nonchalantly Whitman reached this decision and talked about it later. It reveals an underlying attitude that is hostile to Second Amendment rights. 

In her autobiography she describes her decision to ban guns as one of her “least difficult decisions,” even though eBay users were largely opposed to the ban.  She later rationalized her decision with her belief that gun owners would “cut corners” and let firearms fall into the hands of criminals. 

In another passage, Whitman compares guns to drugs, hate items including swastikas, and items connected with murders.  Around the same time that Whitman banned all sales of guns, she created a special “adults only” version of eBay, ramping up sales of hardcore pornography and sexual paraphernalia.

This attitude reveals Whitman’s disregard for traditional American culture and liberties and a fundamental lack of respect for those of us who exercise our right to keep and bear arms.  Gun-owners and sportsmen in this country take their responsibilities very seriously, and if Whitman had taken the time to meet with us she would have understood that we don’t “cut corners” and we don’t appreciate the fact that she bent over backwards to accommodate smut-peddlers while treating gun-owners like criminals.  

Whitman’s campaign appearances have solidified my impression of her ignorance when it comes to guns.  Earlier this month, a voter asked Whitman whether she believed in may issue or shall issue for concealed carry permits.  Even though Whitman has been campaigning for governor for more than a year, she had no idea what the questioner was talking about and had to ask what the distinction meant. 

Whitman calls herself a “staunch defender” of Second Amendment rights.  What staunch defender doesn’t understand the difference between may issue and shall issue? While I don’t expect a political newcomer to know every nuance of gun law, Whitman’s failure to educate herself about even such basic issues as concealed carry means all her assurances ring hollow. 

In her campaign brochures, Whitman says that Second Amendment rights “can and should be balanced with responsible gun control laws.”  That may sound reasonable, but it’s consultant-tested rhetoric gun owners have heard before, and we know it’s code for new incursions on our rights.  Governor Schwarzenegger campaigned on the same rhetoric, then brought on the new gun control laws like AB 962.  Former Schwarzenegger handlers now populate Whitman’s campaign, but they won’t fool us into giving Schwarzenegger a third term under the name of Meg Whitman. 

In the 2004 California Senate election, Whitman endorsed extreme liberal Barbara Boxer and called her a “courageous leader.”  In that election, Boxer got a 100% rating from the Brady Campaign and a 0% rating from Gun Owners of America, our national organization.  Boxer ran hard on what she called “sensible gun laws,” code for stricter gun control.  That’s not leadership and it’s not courageous.  It’s cowardice kowtowing to the liberal orthodoxy while trampling constitutional rights. 

Meg Whitman is no friend to gun owners. Her attitude towards shooters and sportsmen seems to fall somewhere between ignorant indifference and active opposition.  That’s the reason why the Gun Owners of California recently endorsed her opponent Steve Poizner in the Republican gubernatorial primary.  Second Amendment enthusiasts just don’t believe Meg Whitman.  

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.