United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- Second Amendment supporters will be dealing with primary elections for federal, state, and local offices soon. There will be a lot of those elections in 2022, notably the 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 34 seats in the Senate, and roughly three dozen governorships.
That’s a lot of seats to keep track of, even before we get into the down-ballot races in the states. There will be a lot of candidates. Some will be famous before they ran for office, like Dr. Oz. Others, not so famous. One thing each candidate who does not have a track record of being an anti-Second Amendment extremist in office should get from Second Amendment supporters is an open mind. Even Doctor Oz deserves an open mind from Second Amendment supporters. I AM NOT ENDORSING DR. OZ BY SAYING THIS.
That being said, one thing that seems apparent is that he has emerged from the COVID lockdowns with a new level of skepticism of government overreach and public health “experts.” He’s also repudiated his statements backing the lockdowns. Despite past statements on gun control that raise concerns, perhaps he has evolved similarly.
After all, six years ago, Donald Trump was a celebrity candidate with similarly questionable past statements on gun control.
All he did as President was put three justices on the court who are likely to deal a blow to “may issue” gun laws in less than two years after he left office. It wouldn’t hurt to just ask Dr. Oz a few questions and hear him out while vetting him. If you’re not happy with him, there are other candidates running in the primary.
Now, some unrelated issues may disqualify a candidate for office, even with a good track record on the Second Amendment. Liz Cheney rapidly comes to mind on that front. Adam Kinzinger has resolved the conundrum he created for Second Amendment supporters by retiring. Good riddance to him, and hopefully, we will be able to say the same to Liz Cheney. It should take a lot to reach that point. This will be a big question for Second Amendment supporters to answer in Missouri vis-à-vis former governor Eric Greitens.
We’ve learned lessons from 2021, 2020, and 2018. Some of these lessons came after victories we fought hard for. Others came from defeats that must be learned from. But if those lessons are applied while vetting candidates and keeping an open mind, Second Amendment supporters can defeat anti-Second Amendment extremists via the ballot box at the federal, state, and local levels and secure the Second Amendment for future generations.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
Harold… you are doing it again. Like the serpent in the garden. Oz is a gun grabber from way back. If he changes his rhetoric for the moment, his history is clear.
95% of the House and Senate are corrupt criminal sleezebags who care more about money and power than ANYTHING ELSE. They will sell their vote in a heartbeat, and are accurately said to work for their corporate sponsors rather than their so-called constituents. They lie every time their lips move, and their arrogance knows no bounds. Neither party represents the average American citizen.
An “open mind”? Harold, Harold, Harold. What gun voters should do — MUST do — is to research the history of a given candidate, i.e. voting records, bill sponsorship and survey results, and then make an informed decision on whether or not to support said candidate. “Open minds” have nothing to do with it.
Paul Valone
President, Grass Roots North Carolina
“Even Doctor Oz deserves an open mind from Second Amendment supporters. I AM NOT ENDORSING DR. OZ BY SAYING THIS.”
Wow. Talk about speaking out of both sides of your mouth! Oz is a leftist slimeball who hates guns! Yet Harold tells us we should ignore the evidence and have “an open mind”… If you keep your mind wide open, your brains will fall out, as he has amply demonstrated!
Harold, you don’t belong on Ammoland or ANY other 2A related site. We’re sick of your BS and pray for the day when Ammoland kicks you to the curb!!
Harold, you might have mentioned that everything is won or lost in the primary elections. What I mean by that is that we are stuck with whomever the democrat or repub parties pick, unless we primary in a pro-gun candidate. If our pro-gun candidates win in the primaries then the the various parties are stuck with whomever we picked.
Some of Harold’s columns are less offensive than others. This one reminds me of the one he wrote instructing us to seek out pro-gun democrat candidates to vote for.
I hope that when Harold writes on other venues that he does not claim to be the voice of gun owners. There have been many calls to get rid of Harold here.
I imagine they will keep him to cause argument and division.
“Even Doctor Oz deserves an open mind from 2A supporters. I AM NOT ENDORSING DR. OZ BY SAYING THIS.“ -Harold The Strategist
Oh, how delightfully coy!
Oz is a gun-grabbing slimeball. Stop trying to think, Harold. It’s dangerous in your case. You have a pretty mouth going for you though, which is nice.
STRIKE GROUP REAGAN!
Ah yeah, good ole Trump! Made a lot of political hay in 2016 talking about the need for Nationwide Reciprocity but what we got instead was a bumpstock ban and calls for red flag laws and raising the age to buy long guns, which he dropped when enough hell was raised. Yes, he supposedly appointed some lower court judges that were better than the ones they replaced and he gave us three new Supremes of questionable leanings. Dr Oz, I cannot bring myself to trust any further than I could throw him. He gained fame and fortune through Oprah, who… Read more »
I’m going to be honest and say what I’ve felt for a while. I hope Trump doesn’t run in 2024. I voted for him in 2016 and 2020, but split Presidential terms isn’t what this country needs. We need a solid 8 years of Conservative leadership to correct all the problems the Obutthead and the Demented One have and are causing. 4 years isn’t enough. I like Trump, though he didn’t keep his word on gun control issues. I like what he did for the most part. But even if both House a Senate stay with GOP leadership, the Democrat’s… Read more »