The Fruits of "Pragmatism"

Self-Proclaimed "Pro-Gun" Candidate Endorses Gun Grabber

Walter Moore ran for mayor of Los Angeles. Among his claims in an email to me: “I fully support our Second Amendment rights.”

He even addressed the Westside NRA Members’ Council to recruit gun owner support. I’ve spoken to some members who gave it.

I didn’t involve myself with his campaign because Moore refused to go on record answering specific questions about how he would support the right to keep and bear arms.

“Publicizing my stand on the Second Amendment to people who hate guns before the election would be counter-productive,” he told me. “It's fine for people WITHIN the Second Amendment community to know my stand, but if we start trumpeting it to the world, well, we risk losing a lot of votes unnecessarily.”

I pressed him on that, and his reply was “I've stated my position. Anyone who disagrees with my position can instead vote for one of the liberal Democrats against whom I'm running.”

Mr. Moore’s strategy of hiding from his claimed principles in order to glean votes resulted in a sixth-place finish, with 2.8 % of the vote.

And now, Mr. Moore, who had a problem “publicizing [his] stand on the Second Amendment” has no problem publicizing his support for a gun-grabbing rival.

The Los Angeles Times reports “Walter Moore, a Republican lawyer from Westchester…endorsed [incumbent mayor James] Hahn.”

That’s the same James Hahn who, according to The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence joined other big city mayors and “called on the Senate not to support legislation to give gunmakers, distributors and vendors immunity from civil liability.”

“As the city’s chief prosecutor,” Hahn’s website advertises, “he used innovative approaches to curbing gang violence, sued gun manufacturers to stop the illegal distribution of guns…”

In his Candidate Statement, Hahn brags that he “Joined members of the Million Mom March and other local organizations in calling for the renewal of the federal assault weapons ban. As City Attorney, Hahn wrote the law banning assault weapons in Los Angeles, the first major city in California to do so,” and “Signed into law an ordinance that prohibits the sale or transfer of large caliber handguns and rifles in the city."

I'm sure Mr. Moore will have plenty of justifications for voting "for one of the liberal Democrats against whom [he was] running." And we can all see how well his political "pragmatism" works to advance and secure freedom.

"Jim Hahn is straight with you," Moore told The Times, "and he follows through on what he says he's going to do."

Yeah, we know.

If you’re a gun owner who supported Walter Moore, this is what you got for your time, money and efforts. This is what you'll always get when a candidate won't proudly champion all of the Bill of Rights and makes excuses to avoid doing so.

At Least They're Consistent

Sarah Brady complained about state preemption legislation in Kansas, calling it the “No Local Rights bill.”

“[W]e should all agree that in a democracy,” she commands, “the people of a local community should be able to take the appropriate steps to ensure their safety locally. That's what democracy is all about. To pass this wrong headed language into law is contrary to democracy.”

Meanwhile, fellow gun grabber California Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg is backing state legislation to ban public school sports teams from using the name “Redskins.” Why the need for action from Sacramento?

“If local control were to govern civil rights," Goldberg said, "there would be none.”