Kerry shotgun still in WV; Democrat hasn't bothered taking steps to bring home

8:16am Friday, September 24, 2004

A September 23, 2004 article in the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail revealed that the 12 ga. Remington Model 11-87 which was presented to John Kerry at a rally earlier this month has never left the state of West Virginia where the photo op took place.

Presidential candidate John Kerry never took home a semi-automatic shotgun that stirred controversy when he accepted it at a Boone County rally, reported the Charleston, WV newspaper, causing critics to claim the Democrat even flip-flops on photo ops.

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Pictures of Kerry accepting the gun at a Labor Day rally made headlines when it was revealed the Remington 11-87 was one he had voted to ban in the Senate.

But the newspaper says Kerry hasn't been able to keep the gun because he couldn't transport it over state lines to his home in Massachusetts until he has filled out the proper paperwork.

"It's par for the course, John Kerry flip-flopping on the issues," said Ashley Varner, a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association.

"We knew this was a photo op to confuse hunters and law-abiding gun owners because he has been so anti-gun in his 20 years in the Senate. Now his campaign strategy is to don blaze orange as camouflage of his true voting record against gun owners."

Gun Week magazine Senior Editor Dave Workman wrote last week that Kerry did not have possession of the gun he accepted in West Virginia.

"It's probably in somebody's closet gathering dust," Workman said in an interview with the Charleston newspaper this week. "You wonder if he really will. If he actually does go ahead and get the shotgun, that's news."

Workman told the newspaper most of his readers believe the gun gift was staged for the image that Kerry is for gun rights.

"My impression was it was a photo op and that's it," Workman said. "That impression is shared by a lot of people in gun community."

"It's obvious that he is really trying to present himself as a pro-gun, pro-sport shooting candidate," Workman said. "Unfortunately, his voting record in Washington, D.C., says otherwise."

According to a September 19 article in the Baltimore Sun, Kerry's WV photo op with a gun he hasn't taken home is fooling some gun owners:

"The scene boosted Kerry's image with at least one voter attending Kerry's Labor Day rally. 'It cleared one problem up for me, with the guns,' said Paul Cooper, 62, of Madison, who wore his Navy garrison cap under the hot sun. 'He can't be against our guns, or want to take mine, if he's got one of his own.'

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Cartoon courtesy of Jeff Riffle