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The National Rifle Association is putting the election-year squeeze on conservative Democrats, demanding that they buck their leadership to support a bill to erase more of the District of Columbia’s gun laws.
Democratic gun rights supporters will risk losing their A-plus rating if they don’t sign a discharge petition to be filed Wednesday bringing the gun-rights bill directly to the floor.
It will be the first time in more than 20 years that the NRA has “scored” a discharge petition in determining the grades it gives lawmakers before the November election, said spokesman Andrew Arulanandam.
“We’re making this a priority. We’ll put resources into this,” Arulanandam said. “Our members don’t want lawmakers to just pay lip service to the Second Amendment, they want to make sure these members vote to support it.”
The vote could put vulnerable Democrats, many of them freshmen elected in 2006 from conservative rural districts, in a bind.
Supporters, building on their historic Supreme Court victory on gun rights in June, think they have a good chance of getting the bill to the floor because 250 House members signed an amicus curiae brief to the high court calling for repeal of the handgun ban, including 65 Democratic members. The bill, by Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), has 247 co-sponsors, including 56 Democrats.
But Democratic leadership aides say they’re not concerned because many of those supporters have a policy of not signing discharge petitions. They are also betting that gun issues won’t gain much traction with voters more worried about the souring economy.
“Republican procedural tactics in Washington don’t have much impact back home,” said Nick Papas, spokesman for House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill).
Still, leadership aides said Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and John Tanner (D-Tenn.) are trying to work with members and the NRA to try to forge a compromise on the issue.
A Tanner spokesman described the situation as “very fluid.” A Dingell spokesman denied any involvement, saying Dingell is “not working with the NRA on any discharge petitions and does not know of any discharge petitions on gun-related matters currently in the House.”
Since losing West Virginia and Southern states like Tennessee in the 2000 presidential election, Democrats have been gun-shy when it comes to firearms issues. In the 2006 election, Democrats won many conservative districts where voters are at odds with traditional big-city Democrats who support gun control.
In Congress, Democratic leaders have tried to stay away from big floor fights on guns.
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