Senator Mark Begich Trying to Fool Alaskans about his Recent Anti-gun Actions — GOA holding the Senator’s feet to the fire
QUESTION: How do you tell when an anti-gun politician is lying?
ANSWER: His lips are moving.
On February 10, GOA alerted Alaskans to Democrat Senator Mark Begich’s role in defeating the Rand Paul pro-gun amendment that would have allowed individuals to carry firearms in Post Offices.
But rather than just admit his complicity in helping to kill the pro-gun amendment, Senator Begich is trying to fool Alaskans into thinking that he was the hero who saved the day.
However, these claims couldn’t be further from the truth.
Even more so, it’s truly amazing that — given the importance of firearms in Alaska — Senator Begich actually played the central role in defeating Senator Paul’s efforts to repeal the post office gun ban.
Now, just to recap what happened:
* Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) tried to offer his guns-in-Post-Offices amendment during a committee session on Wednesday, January 29. But it was Mark Begich who raised objections, thus preventing the committee from voting on Paul’s language that day.
* Senator Paul then tried to offer his amendment at a subsequent meeting — on Thursday, February 6. This time, the anti-gun chairman of the committee, Tom Carper, was ready with his own amendment to simply “study” the issue of whether Americans should be able to carry guns in Post Offices.
And guess what? Mark Begich actually voted IN FAVOR OF the Carper “study” amendment, which effectively killed Paul’s pro-gun amendment. The Carper amendment — which passed 9-6 — killed the Paul language by making sure that it would not even be considered at all.
Later, when Senator Paul kept insisting on getting a vote on his amendment, Begich offered his own anemic language as an alternative to Paul’s. It was so anemic that F-rated anti-gunners — like Tom Carper (D-DE), Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Carl Levin (D-MI) — were able to vote for it.
Many of you took action on GOA’s February 10 alert and have contacted Senator Mark Begich to express your displeasure. So what does Begich have to say about all this?
(1) Begich Misrepresentation: Begich says that he offered his killer amendment because “it became clear that the committee was going to vote against Sen. Paul’s amendment.”
Answer: The reason “it became clear” that the committee was going to kill the Paul amendment is because Democrats like Mark Begich — along with Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana — were voting IN OPPOSITION to Rand Paul! If Begich (and these other two Democrats) had not opposed Paul, the committee would have passed his amendment, rather than defeating it.
Begich is like a kid who kills his father and then throws himself at the mercy of the court because he is now an orphan.
One can go here and here to actually view the committee debates … to watch the votes … and see how Senator Begich worked to bury Paul’s amendment in favor of his own language.
(2) Begich Misrepresentation: Begich says that once the Rand Paul amendment was going to be defeated — again, in part, because of Begich’s opposition to the Kentucky Senator — then “I quickly offered a common sense solution…”
Answer: The fact is, Begich’s anemic language is called a “cover amendment.” It allows reluctant Democrat senators to vote to kill the underlying pro-gun proposal, while giving them “cover” against protests from their pro-gun constituents.
It should tell you something that ALL the Democrats on the committee — even the viscerally anti-gun Senators — were able to ALL vote for the Begich amendment.
And, it should tell you something that Michael Bloomberg’s minions have commended Begich for his role in killing pro-gun legislation. As we alerted you earlier, the Bloomberg-backed Moms Demand Action praised Senator Begich and other Democrats on the committee right after the Paul amendment was defeated, and they declared a victory for their side:
“We are pleased the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs rejected [the Paul amendment] today that would have allowed concealed, loaded guns to be carried in post offices.”
Make no mistake about it: The poorly drafted Begich “face-saver” amendment is a joke.
Whereas the Paul amendment cut through the technicalities by repealing the post office anti-gun regulations, Begich’s text merely massages the regs.
Hence, under the Begich amendment, you could be arrested for mailing a letter with a gun in your car if the public parking lot is also used by Post Office employees.
Or, you could be arrested if another federal office shares the parking lot.
Or, you could even be arrested because the anti-gun Postal Service determines that a “gun rack” in your car is not the same as “carrying.”
So bottom line: If you are ever arrested for having a gun in your car when you are at your local post office parking lot, you can blame Mark Begich.
(3) Begich Misrepresentation: Finally, Begich is trying to assure voters in the state that “protecting Alaskans’ right to bear arms is a priority for me ….”
Answer: The truth is that Mark Begich holds a “D” rating from GOA because he has voted with Senators Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer MULTIPLE TIMES against your rights. Consider just some of his anti-gun votes from 2013, which can be seen if full here:
* Begich opposed Senator Ted Cruz’ efforts to filibuster funding for the anti-gun ObamaCare mandate, which effectively means that doctors will be able to ask their patients about guns, and health information will be used to deny guns to millions of Americans — just as more than 150,000 military veterans have already been denied;
* Begich voted for several of Obama’s anti-gun judges to sit on the federal bench; and he voted to set the stage for an anti-gun majority on the Supreme Court and the overturning of the pro-gun Heller decision;
* Begich opposed efforts to raise the vote threshold for passing gun control in the Senate from 51% to 66% — thus, making it easier for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to enact gun bans;
* Begich voted to make it more difficult to for private individuals to sell firearms to certain military veterans; and
* Begich voted to confirm President Barack Obama’s anti-gun choice to be the new director of the ATF.
ACTION: Don’t let Senator Begich get away with trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes. Let Begich know that Alaskans like yourself know what he’s up to — and that his back-room deals in committee have been completely exposed. So contact him again to counter his fallacious comments to the citizens of Alaska.
You can cut-n-paste the text below into his webform here. Make sure to select the topic “Second Amendment Issues.”
—– Pre-written letter —–
Dear Senator Begich:
I am appalled that you are trying to justify your efforts to kill the pro-gun Paul amendment, which would have allowed Alaskans to carry guns in Post Offices.
First, you say that you offered your killer amendment because “it became clear that the committee was going to vote against Sen. Paul’s amendment.”
But of course, the reason “it became clear” that the committee was going to kill the Paul amendment is because Democrats like yourself — along with Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana — were voting IN OPPOSITION to Rand Paul! If you and the other two Democrats had not opposed Paul, the committee would have passed his amendment, rather than defeating it.
You are kind of like the kid who kills his father and then throws himself at the mercy of the court because he is now an orphan.
Second, you say that once the Rand Paul amendment was going to be defeated — again, in part because of your opposition to the Kentucky Senator — then “I quickly offered a common sense solution…”
But as you very well know, your anemic language was nothing more than a “cover amendment, which allowed reluctant Democrat senators to vote to kill the underlying pro-gun proposal, while giving them “cover” against protests from their pro-gun constituents.
It’s telling that ALL the Democrats on the committee — even the viscerally anti-gun Senators like Tom Carper, Claire McCaskill and Carl Levin — were able to vote for your amendment.
And, it’s telling that Michael Bloomberg’s minions have commended you for your role in killing Paul’s pro-gun legislation. The Bloomberg-backed Moms Demand Action praised you and other Democrats on the committee right after the Paul amendment was defeated, and they declared a victory for their side:
“We are pleased the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs rejected [the Paul amendment] today that would have allowed concealed, loaded guns to be carried in post offices.”
Your “face-saver” amendment doesn’t hold a candle to the original Paul amendment. Whereas the Paul amendment cut through the technicalities by repealing the post office anti-gun regulations, your text merely massages the regs.
Hence, under your amendment, I could be arrested for mailing a letter with a gun in my car if the public parking lot is also used by Post Office employees.
Or, I could be arrested if another federal office shares the parking lot.
Or, I could even be arrested because the anti-gun Postal Service determines that a “gun rack” in my car is not the same as “carrying.”
So bottom line: If I’m ever arrested for having a gun in my car when I’m at a local post office parking lot, I will have you to blame.
Finally, I see that you are trying to assure voters in the state that “protecting Alaskans’ right to bear arms is a priority for me ….”
But the truth is that you hold a “D” rating from Gun Owners of America because you have voted with Senators Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer MULTIPLE TIMES against my rights. GOA has posted your anti-gun votes from 2013 here: http://www.gunowners.org/state1132014a.htm
It would mean more to me if you would just admit your complicity in helping to kill Rand Paul’s pro-gun amendment in committee, rather than trying to fool Alaskans into thinking that you were the hero who saved the day.
Sincerely,