The New GUN WEEK, September 20, 2004
Page 5

Kerry?s WV Shotgun ?Returned To Person Who Bought It?
by Dave Workman
Senior Editor

Democrat Presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry did not
actually keep a semi-automatic shotgun that was presented to
him during a Labor Day campaign rally in West Virginia, Gun
Week has learned. (See earlier story on Page 4.)

That shotgun, a Remington 11-87, was ?returned to the
person who bought it,? said Kerry campaign spokeswoman Kathy
Roeder.

So, was this presentation just a photo-op designed to
convince rural West Virginia gunowners that Kerry is one of
them, as critics claim? Kerry has been careful to appear
in front of cameras with guns in his hands since an Iowa
pheasant hunt last fall. Over the summer, he has shot skeet
a couple of times, always with the cameras rolling.

The gun issue is considered to have cost Democrats the
states of West Virginia, Tennessee and Arkansas in 2000.
All three are traditional Democrat strongholds, but they are
also ?gun country,? and critical to Democrats if they are to
win the White House in November.

Roeder acknowledged that Kerry could not legally have
accepted the shotgun and taken it with him, anyway, under
existing gun control laws. While Roeder said Kerry would
?definitely like to keep it,? under current law, Kerry?a
Massachusetts resident?may not just visit another state,
take a gun as a gift, and fly off in his campaign jet.

For Kerry to keep the shotgun, he would have to fill out the
proper paperwork through a federally licensed dealer. He
would also have to pass a NICS background check.

But there?s more to this flap than just concerns over
paperwork. Kerry voted against a key piece of legislation
that directly impacts union jobs in the firearms industry.

Months before United Mine Workers of America (UMWA)
President Cecil E. Roberts presented Kerry with the shotgun
in Racine, WV the Democratic presidential nominee ignored a
request from Roberts to co-sponsor pro-gun legislation that
would have protected the jobs of union members in Ilion, NY.

Gun Week has obtained a copy of a Sept. 23, 2003 letter sent
by Roberts to Kerry, in which the union president urged
Kerry to ?co-sponsor and strongly support the Protection of
Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, S. 659.? That legislation would
have prohibited frivolous municipal lawsuits against
gunmakers and retailers for crimes committed with guns by
third parties.

Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards of South
Carolina, both left the presidential campaign trail in March
to speak against the legislation, and ultimately vote
against it. Both Kerry and Edwards supported so-called
?killer amendments? that were tacked onto the bill, making
it unacceptable to gun rights groups and the White House.

Roberts, a self-described Democrat, introduced Kerry at a
Labor Day rally in Racine, before presenting him with the
shotgun. According to press reports, Roberts said the gun
had been made by UMWA members employed at the Remington
Firearms plant in Ilion.

Remington CEO Tommy Miliner quickly announced that the
presentation was made without prior notification or approval
of Remington. In a statement, Millner noted, ?Rest assured,
we were neither aware of this presentation in advance nor in
any way supportive of its intent to support Senator Kerry.
In fact, the Company remains amused by ongoing photos of
Senator Kerry shooting without either ear or eye protection
while discharging a firearm. As you know, federal election
law prevents any company from endorsing a candidate.?

He released a subsequent statement clarifying ?any confusion
that Remington in any way endorses through this gift (by a
union representing some of our employees) the candidacy of
Senator Kerry.? In that statement, Remington stressed that
it ?has made no endorsement of any presidential candidate.?

?This endorsement and presentation by the UMWA was made
independently of the Remington Arms Company and the Company
did not coordinate with or endorse the actions of the
union,? the statement read.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) also weighed
in. NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence
Keane issued a statement blasting Kerry for telling ?union
workers that he?s a hunter, but the truth is he would ban
their shotguns.?

Roeder, speaking to Gun Week from her Washington, DC,
office, branded that statement as false.

?Clearly this is a sportsman?s shotgun,? she said. ?He would
never ban it.?

Roeder defended Kerry?s background as a sportsman and
hunter, and suggested the flap over the shotgun is much ado
about nothing.

When Gun Week contacted Roberts? office in Virginia to ask
about the September 2003 letter to Kerry, we were referred
to a telephone number and contact person that turned out to
be Amy Goodwin, communications director for the Kerry
Edwards campaign in West Virginia.

Goodwin issued a release addressing the shotgun
presentation, in which she stated, ?John Kerry?s opponents
are worried be cause he?s the first Democratic candidate to
support Second Amendment gun rights and to be an avid
hunter…. John Kerry opposes banning this gun and always
will. John Kerry was proud to receive this union-made gun
at the United Mine Workers Labor Day picnic in Racine, West
Virginia.?

There did not seem to be any reconciliation between the
presentation, and Kerry?s vote in March that went directly
against Roberts? request for Kerry?s support of the gun
bill. When he introduced Kerry to the Racine crowd on Labor
Day, Roberts made it clear to which party he is affiliated.

?They (Republicans) are pretty good at raising the Bible,
pointing the Bible at us,? he said, as quoted by The
Charleston Gazette. ?But you know what we do in the
Democratic Party? We open it up and see what it says.?