By Tanya Metaksa
What’s New—POLITICS: Primary elections during August 2024; Nebraska: During the special session that adjourns on Aug. 14, 2024, LB65 was heard in committee; Democrat Presidential candidate Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her Vice-Presidential running mate;
Politics
Grades courtesy of NRA-PVF
Connecticut: Election Aug. 13, 2024:
State Senate:
District 2: Ayana Taylor, (D) F, Douglas McCrory (D) F, Shellye Davis (D) ?
District 7: NRA Endorsed-John Kissel (R) A, George Austin (R) ?, Nathan Wolliston (D) ?, Cynthia Mangini (D) F
District 13: Elain Cariati (R) ?, Gwen Samuel (R) ?
District 22: Marilyn Moore (D) F, William Finch (D) F, all others ?
District 23: Herron Gaston (D) F, all others ?
District 29: Christopher Reddy (R) AQ, Susanne Witlowsli (R) ?
District 36: Nicholas Simmons (D) F, Trevor Crow (D) ?
Florida: Election August 20, 2024:
1st Congressional District: NRA Endorsed- Marr Gaetrz (R) A-
2nd Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-Neal Dunn(R) A
3rd Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-Kate Cammack (R) A
5th Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-John Rutherford (R) A
6th Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-Mike Waltz (R) A
7th Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-Cory Mills (R) A
8th Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-Mike Haridopolos (R) A
11th Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-Dan Webster (R) A
12th Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-Gus Bilirakis (R) A
15th Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-Laurel Lee (R) A
State Senate:
District 3: no recommendation. None of the Democrats returned their questionnaire.
District 5: Tracie Davis (D) F, Franky Jeanty ?
District 7: NRA Endorsed-Tom Leek, (R) A, David Shoar AQ
District 13: NRA Endorsed-Keith Truenow (R) A
District 19: NRA Endorsed-Randy Fine (R) A
District 21: Ed Hopper (R) B, John Siamas (R) AQ
District 25: Jon Arguello (R) AQ Jose Martinez (R) ?, Kristen Arrington (D) F, Alan Grayson (D) F, Carmen Torres (D), F
District 35: Rodney Jacobs, (D) F, Chad Klitzman (D) F, Barbara Sharief (D) ?
State House:
District 13: Angie Nixon (D) F, Brenda Priestly Jackson (D) ?
District 14: Kimberly Daniels (D) F, Lloyd Caulker (D) F, Therese Wakefield-Gamble (D) ?
District 18: Kim Kendall (R) AQ, Nick Primrose (R) AQ
District 19: NRA Endorsed-Sam Greco (R) AQ, Darryl Boyer (R) ?
District 20: Judson Sapp (R) ?, Jamie Watts (R) AQ
District 23: Raemi Eagle-Glenn (R) AQ; Chad Johnson (R) AQ; David Arreola (D) F; Amy Trask (D) ?
District 26: Nam Cobb (R) AQ, Mike Levine (R) AQ, Addie Owens (R) AQ, Keith Farner (R) ?
District 27: Richard Gentry (R) AQ, Stephen Shives (R) AQ, Beckie Sirolli (R) AQ
District 32: Dave Weldon (R) A, Debbie Mayfield (R) A
District 33: Mike Limogello (R) AQ, Logan Luse (R) AQ, Monique Miller (R) AQ, Erika Orriss (R) AQ, Vernon Mitchell Anderson Jr. (D) ?, Anthony Yantz (D) ?
District 35: NRA Endorsed-Erika Booth (R) AQ, Laura McAdams Gomez (R) ?
District 41: Bruce Antone (D) F, Jane’t Buford Johnson (D) ?
District 44: Jennifer “Rita” Harris (D) F, Daisy Morales (D) ?
District 46: Michael Cruz (R) AQ, Christian De La Torre (R) ?, Vanessa Alvarez (D) ?, Jose Alvarez (D) F, Jacqueline Centeno (D) D, Robert Johnson (D) F
District 47: Anthony Nieves (D) F, Andrew Jeng (D) ?, Maria Revelles (D) ?
District 48: Jon Albert (R) AQ, Jerry Carter (R) AQ. Chad Davis (R) B, Deborah “Debbie” Owens (R) ?, Amilee Stuckey (R) AQ, Benny Valentin (R) AQ
District 49: Jennifer Kincart Jonsson (R) AQ, Heather McArthur (R) AQ, Shawn McDonough (R) AQ, Randy Wilkinson (R) ?
District 56: NRA Endorsed-Brad Yeager (R) A, Kirk Phillips (R) AQ
District 65: Nathan Kuipers (D) ?, Ashley Brundage (D) F
District 67: Lisette Bonano (R) ?, Rico Smith (R) ?
District 72: Bill Conerly (R) AQ, Alyssa Gay (R) AQ, Rich Tatem (R) AQ, Richard Green (R) AQ
District 74: NRA Endorsed-James Buchanan (R) A, Michelle Pozzle (R) AQ
District 76: Steven Cracche (R) AQ, Vanessa Oliver (R) AQ
District 81:Yvette Benarroch (R) AQ, Greg Folley (R) AQ
District 84: NRA Endorsed-Dana Trabulsy (R) A, Johnnie Lloyd (R) ?
District 89: Debra Tendrich (D) F, Destinie Baker Sutton (D) ?
District 94: Christian Acosta (R) ?, Anthony Aguirre (R) B, Gabrielle Fox (R) AQ, Megan Weinberger (R) ?
District 98: Keith Abel (D) ?, Shelton Pooler (D) ?, Emily Rodrigues (D) F, Mitchell Rosenwald (D) F
District 99: Daryl Campbell (D) F, Joshauwa Brown (D) F
District 106: NRA Endorsed-Fabian Basabe (R) A, Melinda Almonte (R) ?
District 107: All Democrat primary candidates are ?
District 109: Ashley Grant (D) F, James Bush (D) ?, Roy Haremon (D) ?
District 115: Alian Collazo (R) ?, Omar Blanco (R) AQ, Moises Benhabib (R) ?
Sheriff: (by county)
Baker: NRA Endorsed-Scotty Rhoden (R) A, JD Carpenter (R) AQ
Bay: NRA Endorsed-Tommy Ford (R) A+, Andy Husar (R) ?
Citrus: NRA Endorsed-Michael Prendergast (R) A+, David Vincent (R) ?
Columbia: NRA Endorsed-Mark Hunter (R) A, Wallace Kitchings (R) ?
Dixie: NRA Endorsed-Darby Butler (R) A, Julie Herring (R) ?
Gulf: NRA Endorsed-Mike Harrison (R) A, Vince Everett (R) ?
Hardee: NRA Endorsed-Vent Crawford (NPA) A, Arnold Lanier (NPA) ?
Highlands: NRA Endorsed-Paul Blackman (R) A, John Singha (R) ?
Indian River: NRA Endorsed-Eric Flowers (R) A, Milo Thornton (R) ?, Keith Touchberry (R) ?
Jackson: NRA Endorsed-Donnie Edenfield (R) A, Chris Brannon (R) ?, Jeffrey O’Pry (R) ?
Jefferson: NRA Endorsed-Mac McNeil (R) A+, Andrew Fischer (R) ?
Lafayette: NRA Endorsed-Brian Lamb (R) A+, Fred Allen (R) ?, Scott Bonafide (R) ?
Levy: NRA Endorsed-Bobby McCallum (R) A, Britton Drew (R) ?
Marion: NRA Endorsed-Billy Woods (R) A, Milton Busby (R) ?
St Johns: NRA Endorsed-Robert Hardwick (R) A, Jim Priester (R) ?
Suwannee: NRA Endorsed-Sam St. John (R) A, Jason Rountree (R) ?
Taylor: NRA Endorsed-Wayne Padgett (R) A, Eric Sadler (R) ?
Wakulla: NRA Endorsed-Jared Miller (R) A, Armand Reyes (R) ?
Minnesota: Election Aug. 13, 2024:
1st Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-Brad Finstad (R) A
6th Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-Tom Emmer (R) A+
7th Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-Michelle Fischbach (R) A
8th Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-Pete Stauber (R) A
Oklahoma: Election Aug. 27, 2024:
State Senate Republican Primary
District 3: NRA Endorsed-Blake Cowboy Stephens (R) A
District 15: Lisa Standridge AQ, Robert Keyes AQ
District 33: Christi Gillespie AQ, Shelley Gwartney AQ
District 47: Kelly Hines AQ, Jenny Schmitt AQ
Vermont: Election Aug. 13, 2024:
Governor: Esther Charlestin (D) ?, Peter K. Duval (D) ?
Lt. Governor: Gregory M. Thayer (R) A, John S. Rogers (R) A
Washington: Election Aug. 27, 2024:
4th Congressional District: NRA Endorsed-Incumbent Dan Newhouse (R) A
5th Congressional District:NRA Endorsed-Jacquelin Maycumber (R) A+
6th Congressional District: Janis Clark (R) ?, Drew MacEwen A, Emily Randall (D) F, Hilary Franz (D) F
Wyoming: Election Aug. 20, 2024:
U.S. Senate: NRA Endorsed-Senator John Barrasso, (R) A+
Presidential Election:
As almost everyone knows, Vice-President Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. The last time that Minnesota’s electoral votes went to a Republican was in the Nixon landslide of 1972. In that election, Richard Nixon only lost Massachusetts and D.C. Even in the 1984 Reagan landslide, Ronald Reagan only lost Minnesota and D.C. Most gun owners know that Kamala is anti-Second Amendment. For the record on the short time she has been the nominee for President, she has promoted the following positions anti-gun positions: assault weapons ban, red flag laws,
According to The Dispatch that touts Tim Walz as a free-spending liberal who tries to campaign as a hunter and outdoorsman:“That fits in with the kind of campaign Kamala Harris plainly intends to run: an old-fashioned, pork-barrel, spend-all-the-money-on-all-the-things category-5, DEFCON-1 hootenanny of utter fiscal incontinence. Walz’s job is to sell that—and that’s the kind of thing that sells itself to a lot of voters—while convincing voters he is just another duck-huntin’ rustic from whatever is due west of the boonies.”
However, in May 2024, Gov. Walz signed an omnibus budget bill that included universal gun registration and red flag gun confiscation. It was a circumvention of a Yes/No vote on these issues before the Minnesota Senate. You can view a video of the MN Gun Owners Caucus President on the issue of Tim Walz and the Second Amendment.
The Paris Olympics of 2024
I know you have heard of US Olympic Gold Medal winner Simone Biles, or the US Men’s Basketball Team that won gold medals for their 2024 exploits because they have been on the nightly news and on social media non-stop. But did you know that one of those 40 American gold medals was won by Vincent Hancock, a 35-year old American in Men’s Skeet. And it wasn’t Vincent’s first time. He has won Olympic gold medals in 2008, 2012 and 2021 previously. According to an article by Larry Keane, NSSF’s general counsel, shooting sports gets blackballed by the American media. Hancock is now one of six Olympians to win four gold medals in the same event. He joins such highly heralded American athletes as Al Oerter (discus), Carl Lewis (long jump) and Michael Phelps (swimming). This news is censored on Meta and very rarely celebrated in the U.S. Media. Congratulation to Vincent Hancock and to him teammate, Connor Prince, who got the gold medal.
Firearms Fun Facts
According to NSSF, the firearms trade association, July 2024 was the 60th consecutive month of over 1 million monthly FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). They reported:
“This milestone is demonstrative of Americans’ desire to lawfully exercise their Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms for lawful purposes. The last time monthly background checks associated with the sale of a firearm at retail were below 1 million was July 2019, when 830, 579 background checks for firearm sales were recorded.”
State Legislation and local communities
States that are still in session: California, Illinois (recess), Massachusetts, Michigan (recess), Nebraska (special session), New Hampshire (recess), New Jersey (recess), Ohio (recess), Pennsylvania (recess), Virginia (recess)
California: This is the final push to get bills passed before adjournment. AB262, a safety bill that would have banned shooting at summer camps, has been stripped of all its references to guns, a win by CRPA. Hearings were held for two Senate bills in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Aug. 5: SB53, which prohibits firearm possession in the home unless the firearms are stored in a California Department of Justice-approved locked box or safe, and SB1253. Last week I covered the latter in the Grassroots Legislative Update for Aug. 5. As of now both bills are in the Appropriations suspense file and can be voted upon at any time prior to adjournment.
Nebraska: During the special session, which adjourns on August 14, 2024, the Senate Revenue Committee had a hearing for LB65 that would assess a 5% excise tax on all ammunition sales. 50% of the revenue would be allocated to wildlife conservation, while 50% would go into the general fund. It could be voted on at any time.
