Max Brantley is having a coronary over Blanche Lincoln's latest News release. He even notes that she is losing support among the hook and bullet crowd and had to do something really quick to appeal to them just in time for her re-election.

The release says that she has introduced legislation that would restore Second Amendment gun rights to visitors of national parks and wildlife refuges and that she has, "......fought to protect Arkansans’ Second Amendment rights throughout her tenure in Congress." 

See here and here for the back story on this.

I support this effort unlike Max, but let me just say that this is obviously a move designed to help her in what looks like a less than ideal position for her re-election bid. 

She would obviously like to appear as if she is wildly pro gun, but Im afraid that her stances on guns are mixed. The truth is, she is not a dependable defender of gun rights. Want to know why the hook and bullet crowd doesn't trust her?

In the wanning days of the I'll fated Clinton semi-auto gun ban, I wrote her a letter asking her not to support "killer amendments" that were attached by congressional liberals to a good gun bill that would end wreckless lawsuits against gun manufacturers. They were designed to bankrupt them under a barrage of lawsuits based on the criminal misuse of their products. The bill was known as the "Gun Manufacturer Liability Bill."

The amendments were, an "assault weapons" ban re-authorization and an amendment designed to close the mythical "gun show loophole." She supported these amendments and the bill died because after they were attached, the NRA and actual pro gun legislators urged a vote against the bill. Because Mrs. Lincoln helped her liberal friends get these amendments attached to the bill gun manufacturers were left exposed to wreckless lawsuits from anti-gun mayors all over the country. 

Is this what she means by, "has fought to protect Arkansans’ Second Amendment rights throughout her tenure in Congress?" 

It appears her affinity for the Second Amendment rights of Arkansans is subject to the political winds of the time and conflicting marching orders from her Liberal overlords. She supported the effort of liberals to ban an entire class of weapons that many Arkansans use everyday and she supported an effort to ban the private transfer of firearms(that's the real goal of closing the mythical gun show loophole)

Here is her response to my letter (are you paying attention Mr. Griffin?).

She points out that she supported the bill and that it ultimately failed. But then turns right around and admits that she was party to destroying it. Shucks!

The other day in an interview on KARN with Dave Elswick she was asked if she would support any future legislation to ban "assault weapons."

What was the response from this tireless supporter of the Second Amendment rights of all Arkansasns?

"......It's not going to come up"

Wow, I am blown away.

Mrs. Lincoln, "it's not going to come up" is not an answer to the question that you were asked. Considering your checkered past on gun rights, we need a flat out answer from you on this.

She gave the same non-answer to the card check legislation but that's for another blog.

You can contact her here and let her know that you aren't buying it.

UPDATE - Tim Griffen tweets, "Unfortunately for Senator Lincoln, 2009 is too late to fix her lifetime NRA rating of a D+,"