Politico is carrying an article penned by Wendy Davis where she laments caving to pressure to support the open carry of firearms in Texas while she was running as a Democrat for governor. I’m sure we all can understand what her political calculations were in caving to the gun lobby on this issue. Did it help her in the election, though? In her words:
In the end, there is no question in my mind that my decision to support open carry actually cost me votes that I otherwise would have had. As it should have. And I doubt that it gained me a single one.
I find this reminiscent of Mark Pryor’s loss in Arkansas for Senator. Pryor echoed the NRA in every way possible. In the end, though, the gun lobby backed his Republican opponent and Pryor lost. Democrats need to coalesce around party leadership on this issue and stop fearing the NRA boogeyman. As Democrats we need to attack the Republicans’ fealty to the gun lobby and take the fight to them.
As Wendy writes:
I had the chance to challenge people’s thinking about unbridled access to guns and whether, in this age of increased mass shootings, elected leaders are responsible for striking a better balance.
All of our leaders have this opportunity and they should take it. It takes courage to be on the right side of history in the face of rabid pro-gun opposition. Democrats have a history of doing the right thing and we need to continue doing so.