Meanwhile, Over in Iowa

As a practical matter, there is very little difference between Nussle and Culver on the 2nd amendment issue...while NRA rates Nussle with an "A"[A+ actually, with an endorsement--DC] (and Culver as well), GOA has more appropriately rated Nussle with a "C" ("leans our way occasionally") because of his unwillingness to take a strong stand against many anti-gun issues important to gun owners. For example, he is a strong supporter of sending money to the anti-gun "United Nations" and has twice on record refused to vote to rescind funding to this essentially communist based organization, despite the fact that they continue to attack the 2nd Amendment on our own soil, as they did just this last summer. Nussle also fully supported the movement of the ATFE from the Treasury department to the "Justice" department... because of Nussle and others like him, the ATFE is now a full blown police agency rather than a taxing authority as they were previously, which is a gross violation of the 2nd amendment and other provisions of the Constitution.

I myself and many gun owners that I know made a concerted effort to contact Nussle directly and asked him to cosponsor legislation to establish national concealed carry reciprocity...he refused to do so when the bill originally came up. When pushed into a corner, Nussle will usually (though not always) vote pro-gun; he has never, to my knowledge, been the original sponsor of anything that could be called "pro-gun" legislation. In general, Nussle is a "big, intrusive government, big spender" (as I am certain Culver is as well). Of course you can vote as you please tomorrow (and deceive yourself while you're doing it), but don't realistically expect Nussle to actively work to get, for instance, "shall issue" concealed carry in Iowa...it just ain't gonna happen.

The moral is...don't look at NRA ratings...look at how they vote...this is vastly superior to being "well connected."

Phil Roe

Email reprinted with permission of author. Gun owners all over the country are on to the phony ratings game.