Politicians should be known by their enemies.  If so, Vice Presidential candidate J D Vance is the poster boy for preserving the 2nd Amendment.

Everytown for Gun Safety’s website writes negatively: “He opposed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and supported arming teachers in classrooms.”

The Washington Post reports that “In 2022, Vance said he favored abolishing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which enforces federal gun laws.”

It’s not just his enemies but the things he says that make Vance a 2A favorite.

In an Op-Ed* Vance wrote: “Democrat arguments for gun control rest on a series of falsehoods.  Violence in our country is much more about density than guns.  That’s why the Biden Administration’s dull attempts to curb gun violence don’t work and they threaten the very foundation of the rights we are afforded as free, American citizens.”

“Biden has also pushed for executive orders that would restrict ‘ghost guns’ and certain types of firearm braces.  This is the worst kind of political showmanship: these restrictions will make it harder for law-abiding Ohioans to exercise their Second Amendment rights and neither will have even a small effect on gun violence in our country.”

During his senatorial campaign, Vance vowed to “fight those who confiscate guns, whether it’s federal bureaucrats passing laws or multinational corporations punishing people for exercising their rights.”

Then there are Vance’s friends.

Randy Kozuch, chairman of the National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund, released a statement: “President Trump has made an outstanding choice in selecting Senator Vance as his vice presidential pick and running mate in the upcoming election. Senator Vance has been an unwavering supporter of constitutional freedoms, especially the right to keep and bear arms. In the U.S. Senate, he has consistently stood against the Biden-Harris gun control agenda. Between now and November, the NRA and its millions of members will engage with America’s gun owners about the importance of electing the Trump-Vance ticket.”

Lawrence Keane, senior vice president and general counsel at the National Shooting Sports Foundation, wrote: “In naming Sen. Vance his running mate for the 2024 election, former President Trump has tapped a strong Second Amendment stalwart and someone who proudly stands with the firearm industry and law-abiding Americans from coast-to-coast who believe in exercising their Constitutional rights to keep and bear arms.”

We already knew that Trump was a big supporter of the 2nd Amendment but the addition of Vance makes this the most pro 2nd Amendment presidential ticket in history. 

Is it enough to engage those gun owners who have sat out past elections and get them to the polls in November?  If you know one of these people, you might want to wake them up.

*Columbus Dispatch July 20, 2021