The National Rifle Association is already gearing up for the 2016 elections, warning that Hillary Clinton and Senate Democrats would interpret victory as a call for gun control.
“Next year, we will have the chance to steer America back on course,” said Chris W. Cox, the NRA’s top lobbyist and head of the group’s Institute for Legislative Action.
The NRA, now 5 million strong and with a huge campaign war chest, fears that Clinton will be eager to replay her husband’s ban on assault weapons, a move that would kill the gun industry.
Gun advocates worry that Hillary Clinton will repeat her husband’s ban on semi-automatic weapons. Bill Clinton is shown with former ATF Director John Magaw in 1994 with AK-47. AP Photo
“Obama won’t admit that he wants to register guns, but Hillary’s proud to support it. The only reason to register guns is to tax ’em or take ’em — and there’s no doubt ‘Her Royal Highness’ would love to do both,” Cox warned.
But even if she tries as president, there are many signs that the gun lobby’s power on Capitol Hill is at an all-time high. Not only did President Obama fail to win gun control measures after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, but a majority of both houses forced the administration to give up its recent bullet ban, and pro-gun lawmakers last week succeeded in lowering the regulatory hurdles hunters face in carrying their weapons overseas.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
