With the Kentucky Democratic primary scheduled for Tuesday the NRA couldn’t have picked a better time or location for their 137th annual Meetings & Exhibits to come to Louisville. Today before a crowd of close to 8,000 loyal NRA members the faithful heard from a bevy of speakers at the Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum at the at the Kentucky Exposition Center.

Among the speakers was Kentucky Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo who told the crowd that we need more education to remove the discrimination when it comes to guns.  He was followed by former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove who focused on Barack Obama and his stance on guns by saying that Obama is on the record as having admitted that the second amendment does contain an individual right to keep and bear arms, yet has been solidly on the side of gun control and is a hypocrite for doing so. Next up was retired Lt. Col. Oliver North who has found a new career by reporting from the war zone  and blamed politicians and the press for the coverage of the war and said that “I don’t believe that this country can survive four years of Barack Obama.”

Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee spoke passionately about his love for guns and his belief in God while getting a few digs in at Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  When there was some noise behind the stage Huckabee told the crowd that it was Barack Obama ducking because someone was pointing a gun at him.. They laughed but I bet that Huckabee will get skewered in the press for his insensitivity.  Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) who was one of the lead sponsors of the amicus brief in the Heller case talked about the importance of that case to gun owners and that when she received the unprecedented signature of Vice President Dick Cheney acting in his capacity as the Senate President she told Cheney that “We want to protect every American’s right to be shot by the vice-president.”  She received plenty of laughs but probably won’t take as much flack as Huckabee since she picked on a Republican.

Hutchison was followed by former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton who told the audience that President Bush was correct when he spoke about appeasement yesterday and that he hit the nail on the head and the nails have started complaining.  He added that negotiation is not a policy but a technique.  Another former republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney spent his time comparing Obama and McCain and said that it was time to stop substituting counterfeit values for the values that the founding father put into the Constitution.

Switching briefly from politicians the next speaker was former U.S. Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell who recounted his experience in Afghanistan when he wound up being the sole survivor of “Operation Redwing” and how often our troops are hampered by policy when they are trying to do their job.

The second Democrat to address the convention was Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK) who has a long history of gun support and told the  attendees that we need more pro-gun members of congress.  While he was warmly received he was the only speaker who didn’t receive a unanimous standing ovation when he was done.  Maybe they didn’t know that the Lt. Gov. was also in the D camp.

Following Boren was Sgt. Greg Stube of the U.S. Special Forces who recounted his harrowing ordeal when he was injured In Afghanistan and how close he was to death and the extensive recovery period.  Yet he doesn’t regret one thing.  He is just proud that he is serving his country.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) received the NRA’s Defender of the Constitution Award and also addressed the Heller case noting that neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama signed the amicus brief which wasn’t very surprising but what was he said was that they didn’t sign the opposing brief either. In a tribute to the late Charlton Heston McConnell said that “Charlton Heston will be a hero to future generations, but Michael Moore will not.”

The final speech of the afternoon was by Republican presidential candidate John McCain who warned the audience that if Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama is elected the rights of gun owners are at risk. Then he  reminded the crowd that Obama made a comment about Hillary using a six-shooter to go duck hunting and said “Someone should tell Sen. Obama that ducks are usually shot with shotguns.”

McCain also accused Obama of dusking the Heller case and said that the judiciary will be important to protect gun rights and once again underscored how important it will be to keep the White House in Republican control.  He kept hammering away at Obama by saying it was reckless to agree to hold unconditional meetings with Iran.

Overall despite some reservations the attendees are left with little choice but to vote for McCain in November if they want any chance of protecting what rights they currently enjoy and don’t want to see them taken away by Clinton or Obama though clearly the focus was on Obama today. 

The convention will continue through Sunday.

 

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