‘Friends of Stewart Mills’ sent out a mailer recently, calling Rick
Nolan out of touch, illustrated by an automatic pistol hanging by a
threat attached to the trigger apparatus.Apparently they are upset that Nolan doesn’t think assault rifles with a hundred or more rounds of ammo are really what constitutes hunting weapons. From that the Friends of Stewie Mills III get positively hysterical with paranoia.
Friends of Stewart Mills
show most of their campaign contributions (approximately 67%) coming
from ‘large individual contributions’, not from ‘ordinary people’, and
does not differentiate between in-state contributors and out of state
donors. And of course, Stewie III is now ‘self-funding’ his actual
campaign.As of mid-July, per MinnPost:
More notably, Mills, an executive at Fleet Farm, his family’s company, has begun to pump some of his personal wealth into the campaign, cutting a personal check for $121,000 (that number isn’t reflected in his fundraising total). That’s Mills’ first major contribution to his own campaign. This wasn’t exactly unexpected—he had never ruled out self-funding before Election Day, and Mills’ wealth means he could afford to spend a lot more on this race if he wants to. His stake in Fleet Farm is worth between $41 million and $150 million.
It claims Rick Nolan has no respect for 2nd Amendment rights, and that “our gun rights are hanging by a thread’.
In the same period, we have a Mendota Heights police officer killed by a career criminal, a mass shooting in a Minneapolis bar over the weekend that injured 11 people (5 women, 6 men according to police reports). This morning, there was a shooting at a gas station. Earlier this month, 3 people were injured in a drive by shooting in North Minneapolis. Not long before that, a man was shot after a bus confrontation. And a Bemidji man was arrested for attempted murder for shooting a 17 year old girl as she stood on her deck, for telling him not to ride his lawn mower through her yard. Earlier this morning, a gunman at a gas station gunned down his unarmed passenger, shooting him multiple times.
That is a lot of gun violence in a little over a two week period, in what is generally considered one of the SAFEST states from gun violence.
As noted by gnom news, re the West St. Paul shooting of the police officer:
The fatal shooting is the latest in a surge of violence against police — more than 70 officers have died this year. Police killings by firearms are up 65 percent this year after a historic low in 2013.
So what were Nolan’s actual votes and positions on gun control? According to NNCNOW, the group of news stations up on the ‘range’ in northern Minnesota:
Fact Check: Rick Nolan claims Stewart Mills attack ad “a big lie”
DULUTH, Minn. (NNCNOW.com) — U.S. Congressman Rick Nolan is claiming a new attack ad by his Republican opponent contains some false information.
In a race that is among the most fiercely contested in the country, Nolan accuses Stewart Mills of using smear campaign tactics.
“Far too many politicians in Washington have no respect for the Second Amendment,” the ad says.
The thirty second ad slams Nolan’s “F” rating with the National Rifle Association.
“This ad is a dishonest, “big lie” smear campaign tactic that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Nolan said.
The ad continues, “…In Washington, he (Nolan) has repeatedly voted to take away your rights.”
In fact, since Nolan returned to the House of Representatives in 2013, there have been few votes on major gun legislation.
The Mills’ campaign points to Nolan’s support on the Thompson King Amendment, which would require people to clear a background check before purchasing a gun.
The campaign also cites a vote Nolan made that some say would have implemented a gun registry, but that vote was 36 years ago.
“I think there is no better point there than it shows Rick Nolan is out of touch with the values of this District,” Mike Lukach, Mills’ Campaign Manager said. “He went on national television within a month of him being in office to endorse gun control.”
That is not the whole story.
Nolan did appear on Face the Nation, but he did not endorse complete gun control.
“I don’t need an assault weapon to shoot a duck,” Nolan said on Face the Nation. “I think they ought to be banned and I think we need to put a ban on the amount of shells you can carry in a magazine.”
“Congressman Rick Nolan is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment,” Kendal Killian, Nolan’s Campaign Manager said. “And the accusation that he (Nolan) doesn’t support the Second Amendment is just a complete lie.”
The Nolan campaign hit back saying Mills suggested raising taxes on guns in a 2013 Youtube video.
“The ATF collects approximately $24 billion a year in excise fees,” Mills said in the video. “If we need to increase the 11% ATF excise fee on firearms to 15% or whatever to pay for it, we need to do that.”
The Mills campaign said the comment was taken out of context.
One more thing you need to know.
Mills’ ad says, “Around Election time, Rick will put on his hunter’s orange and grab a rifle…”
“The accusation that Congressman Nolan only hunts on election season, that is also a complete lie,” Killian said. “Congressman Nolan has been hunting for over 50 years.”
The Nolan campaign showed NNC numerous family photos of the Congressman hunting with family throughout past years.
The Eighth Congressional District has one of the highest populations of gun owners, so voters can expect to see more ad’s that target gun owners this election cycle.
Looking at Nolan’s ACTUAL legislative record, at govtrack.us, on any gun related measure, under bills he sponsored or co-sponsored, we have this one, from 2013:
H.R. 2494: Protecting Americans from the Proliferation of Weapons to Terrorists Act of 2013Hardly a threat to the 2A rights of Americans.
Sponsor: Rep. Christopher Gibson [R-NY19]
Introduced: Jun 25, 2013
Referred to Committee: Jun 25, 2013
And this one — also NOT a threat to the 2A rights of Americans (look at the author).
H.R. 1565: Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 2013
Sponsor: Rep. Peter “Pete” King [R-NY2]
Introduced: Apr 15, 2013
Referred to Committee: Apr 15, 2013
and this pro-hunting/pro-hunter legislation:
H.R. 3728: Wild Game Donation Act of 2013
Sponsor: Rep. Don Young [R-AK0]
Introduced: Dec 12, 2013
Referred to Committee: Dec 12, 2013
and there was this anti-crime legislation, that does NOT threaten 2A rights, or ‘dangle our guns by a thread’:
H.R. 2669: Community-Based Gang Intervention Act
Sponsor: Rep. Tony Cárdenas [D-CA29]
Introduced: Jul 11, 2013
Referred to Committee: Jul 11, 2013
Looking at legislation INTRODUCED by Nolan, I suppose you could stretch this to be an attack on the 2A rights of CORPORATIONS…. but that would be ridiculous.
H.J.Res. 29: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing that the rights extended by the Constitution are the rights of natural persons only.One of the aspects of Nolans record noted by trackgov.us is that Nolan is one of the BETTER members of Congress working both across partisan lines on legislation, and in cooperation with the Senate in order to make legislation more effective, and was one of the more active legislators for government transparency.
Sponsor: Rep. Richard Nolan [D-MN8]
Introduced: Feb 14, 2013
Referred to Committee: Feb 14, 2013
Looking at gun control related legislation in Congress in 2013 and 2014, most legislation has been referred to committees on which Nolan does not sit, and therefore could not vote. I don’t see any legislation for a general vote that could possibly be defined as gun control legislation in the House of Representatives during Nolan’s recent term in office.
It IS true, Nolan is in favor of background checks – that is NOT an assault on 2A rights. It is an attempt to keep bad people from getting their hands on guns, and clearly from our recent experience here in Minnesota (which is BETTER than most states) there is good reason to do that.
And while the NRA might give Nolan a bad grade for that, even a majority of MEMBERS of the NRA support background checks for gun purchases. It is pretty meaningless what grade the NRA gives a candidate, when 74% of the NRA’s OWN MEMBERS support criminal background checks for ALL gun purchases, as do 90% of ALL AMERICANS.
From Politifact.com:
Ninety percent of Americans and 74 percent of National Rifle Association members support universal background checks, Leffingwell said, the Austin American-Statesman reported in a news article posted online the day he spoke, March 28, 2013.Nolan is in touch with Americans, including apparently CD8 Minnesotans, and supports their interests and safety with real responses to risks in balance with freedom.
Currently, background checks are required in sales by federally licensed gun dealers but not for gun sales by private sellers. President Barack Obama wants to require criminal background checks for all gun sales. The National Rifle Association, which opposes universal background checks, has suggested that an expansion would fail to rope in criminals.
As noted in a January 2013 fact check by our colleagues in Washington, Republican pollster Frank Luntz’s organization, Luntz Global, conducted a May 2012 poll of 945 gun owners nationwide, half of whom were gun owners who were “current or lapsed” members of the National Rifle Association and half of whom were non-NRA gun owners. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
A week before Leffingwell spoke, Everhart pointed out, Bloomberg delivered remarks in New York noting that polls in 41 congressional districts suggest an average of 86 percent to 89 percent of likely voters support universal background checks. “That’s in line with other recent polls that have found that more than 90 percent of Americans support background checks for all gun buyers,” Bloomberg said before revisiting the May 2012 poll that reached current and former NRA members.
That poll found that 82 percent of gun owners were in favor of required background checks, including 74 percent of individuals with current or former memberships in the NRA.
PolitiFact identified two other 2013 polls of gun owners. A Pew Research Center poll taken of 1,502 adults from Jan. 9-13, 2013, found 85 percent of some 529 polled gun owners in favor of making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks — nearly identical to the Luntz poll. The gun-owner results had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. A CBS/New York Times poll conducted of 1,110 adults from Jan. 11-15, 2013, showed that 85 percent of respondents living in a household with an NRA member supported universal background checks.
More recently, according to the results of a national January 2013 poll presented in the March 21, 2013, New England Journal of Medicine, 84 percent of gun owners and 74 percent of NRA members supported requiring a universal background-check system for all gun sales. The poll was conducted by GfK Knowledge Networks for researchers led by Colleen L. Barry, an associate professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The January Pew poll found 85 percent of all respondents in favor of making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks, with comparable support from Republicans, Democrats and independents, Pew said. The margin of error for the entire sample was 2.9 percentage points.
The CBS/New York Times poll indicated that 92 percent of all the respondents favor background checks for all potential gun buyers. The poll had an overall margin of error of three percentage points.
PolitiFact Georgia, looking into a similar claim about support for universal checks, noted a Fox News poll conducted Jan. 15-17, 2013, of 1,008 registered voters. Ninety one percent of respondents said they favor “requiring criminal background checks on all gun buyers, including those buying at gun shows and private sales.”
A Quinnipiac University national survey of 772 registered voters, taken Jan. 30 through Feb. 4, 2013, found 92 percent supporting background checks for all gun buyers. The survey, pointed out by Everhart, had a margin of error of 2.3 percentage points.
A subsequent Quinnipiac University survey, taken of 1,944 registered voters from Feb. 27, 2013 through March 4, 2013, found 88 percent in favor of background checks for all gun buyers. The poll had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.
Frat Brat Stewie Mills does NOT represent the interests of Minnesotans, nor is he being honest with the voters in CD 8 about his opponent. Instead he is lying about Nolan to appeal to the low information, single issue voter, pandering to ignorance and irrational fears.
Shame on bratty little Stewie Mills; because that is all he has to offer. He’s got nothing else.
