Remember when I gave Rick Perry a little campaign advice about hitting up a gun range while on the campaign trail? Well, someone in Rick Santorum’s campaign definitely has it together. Looking ahead to the March 6 sorta-Super Tuesday, he was looking to hold a campaign rally at a gun shop in Oklahoma City. Unfortunately, it had to be moved when ticket requests went through the roof after his non-binding caucus & primary wins this week. However, he still stopped in to do a little campaigning at the gun range.
During his pre-rally visit at H&H, Santorum said, “I wish we could have had it here, this would have been perfect.â€
He added, “I am very impressed. It is easy to see why gun ownership is so strong here, and I stand tall with the Second Amendment.â€
Said Miles Hall, founder and president of H&H, “It was a great honor to show a small but important part of the shooting industry to one of our presidential hopefuls.â€
H&H is probably the most awesome gun range I’ve ever been to. It has indoor archery, airgun, and like 40 lanes for rifle or pistol. Firearm lanes are $10 for THE WHOLE DAY!
Also they stock reloading supplies that rival online prices. And they’re located just off the highway.
They also have a full service grill and eatery there, and stock NFA items.
Wow, that sounds awesome. I thought the facilities here were good… now I’m jealous!
Having Santorum all over would ruin the decor, though.
Alas, he’s still Rick Santorum.
He is, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve recognition for reaching out to gun owners.
Certainly he does, but will the eventual nominee be at Knob Creek in Oct?!
Are we such whipped curs, then, as to have to respond to any hand that tries to pet? Him, I would not touch with a ten-foot pole.
He was later heard saying, “As a presidential candidate, I also like all the things you like. Let us enjoy the things we enjoy together, for a stronger America. I stand tall for the things you want, and against the things you don’t want.”
Ahh, the sound of a politician kissing ass to get elected…..
“Are we such whipped curs, then, as to have to respond to any hand that tries to pet? Him, I would not touch with a ten-foot pole.”
Right on, Roberta! I’m going to borrow your “whipped curs” metaphor, many times in the future!
I won’t let it be forgotten that in 1994, in preparation for the Republican UnRevolution, the Republicans contrived to lure 10,000 of us PA gun owners to the capitol in Harrisburg for a “gun rights rally,” on our own dimes, that turned out to be more of a Santorum Rally. Not that he was there — that would have taken too much effort — but so many of his people were there that anything that stood still for five seconds got a Santorum sticker pasted on it. Meanwhile, both parties were inside the capitol drafting the anti-gun legislation that would be sprung in the fall and passed the following year. And in case anyone thinks the 10,000 man Santorum Rally wasn’t facilitated by the state Republican Party, a private effort to replicate it the next year, at about the time the anti-gun bill passed, drew 30 attendees.
But I have digressed for the sake of “never forget.” If there is a relevant point it is, don’t think that Santorum or his people don’t already have us pegged for the easy and cheap idiots that we are. Don’t think that his attendance at a gun venue indicates anything but recognition of votes that can be bought without ever delivering anything.
I’m tired of being a whipped cur that has to stand next to despicable people in the forlorn hope that a few crums may fall our way off their bandwagons. Nice words ceased being enough, way back in 1994.
I’m sorry, but Santorum can try to reach out to me all he wants. It doesn’t change the fact that he’s still a big government economic illiterate who’s social views are only a few steps removed from that of the Taliban.
There’s no way in Hell I’d vote for a man who thinks it’s normal to sleep with the corpse of a dead child as a way to get closure.
If Santorum gets the nomination, I’m staying home come election day.
I’m not all that thrilled by Santorum either, but as someone who lost a child very recently (about mid-December, in fact) I am going to defend his “thinking it’s normal to sleep with the corpse of a dead child as a way to get closure.”
When my son was born and died shortly afterward, I personally held him for a couple of hours, and we had our two oldest children hold his “corpse” as well–because they didn’t have a chance to hold him while he was alive.
The hospital made it clear that we could have our child with us for however long we wanted. While we personally chose not to have our child overnight, I would not have found it weird had my wife wanted our son to stay the night, or hold him while sleeping.
The day we buried my son, our funeral director shared stories about how 70-year-olds who had still-births or babies who died quickly would have had their children taken to be creamated immediately by hospital staff, without any time to be with the child–and only recently, have found peace by purchasing a headstone in a cemetary, so they could have a place to visit and mourne. We have come a long way in allowing people grieve however they see fit!
So while I agree that Santorum is a weird candidate politically, please have some respect with regards to how he mourned for the loss of his child.
For anyone tempted to vote for that authority-lover, remember what Santorum says about freedom in general:
He has Bill Clinton’s contempt if individual freedom, and wants Daddy Government to hold your hand 24/7 to keep you from sinning. The thought of him winning the Oval Office, along with a Congress that will lick his boots to keep the Religious Right satiated, makes me shudder.
Remember C.S. Lewis’s warning about people who want to oppress you for your own good.
Er, make that Bill Clinton’s contempt *of* individual freedom.
Look folks, no one on this blog is asking you to vote for Santorum. No one is campaigning for Santorum. No one who writes for this blog is even going to vote for Santorum. Can you people find no benefit whatsoever in presidential candidates reaching out to gun owners? Aside from the two who opt to sit out of the political process completely, that is. Are you really so wrapped up in your “I hate certain candidates” that you can’t even have a rational discussion about methods of campaigning and reaching out to target voters without screeching that you hate John Doe candidate?
“Can you people find no benefit whatsoever in presidential candidates reaching out to gun owners?”
No. I’ve been listening to the rap for over 50 years, and seen little come of it, in proportion to its volume around election time.
Respectfully, I think we understand that no one here is telling us to vote for a Santorum. But what you will hear frequently from me is stridency over how cheaply we will sell ourselves for a few empty phrases like “enforce existing laws.” This was an example. He was going to a campaign at a gun range? Well, whoopdee-doo. As Dylan sang “He’s eatin’ pizza — he’s eatin’ bagels. . .” And per my example above, he’s been “reaching out to us” ever since the 1994 approximation of the Tea Party, with a mostly empty hand. But time goes by, old guys drop by the wayside, people forget, and there’s always a new generation of fresh and shiny faces to find inspiration in the hand that reaches out to pat our heads. That cycle has to stop.
And not to digress into another rant, but benEzra above has it pegged exactly: An authoritarian (at best) of the right says he supports gun rights, and we’ll eat it up; while if an authoritarian of the left (say Holder or BHO himself) were to say it this space would be overflowing with ridicule of anyone entertaining the gesture as authentic “outreach.”
Ron Paul has been doing this campaign stops at gun stores and gun ranges for quite a long time. It is just the other candidates are starting to act more like Ron on the campaign trail. The just don’t have the same principles as him. :-(