re: #285 Charles Johnson

Thanks for reminding me to post this story:

Former Rep. Gabby Giffords’ pro-gun-control group has taken down a harsh ad against Arizona House candidate Martha McSally after the Republican explained her position on allowing stalkers to buy guns.

The ad features a woman named Vicki who recounts how her 19-year-old daughter was hunted down and murdered by an enraged ex-boyfriend, while a narrator says McSally, who is running for Giffords’ old seat in Congress, “opposes making it harder for stalkers to get a gun.”

SNIP

he decision to take down the ad 24 hours before it was scheduled to go off the air was made based what Pia Carusone, executive director for Americans for Responsible Solutions, described as a change in McSally’s position.

The group, which includes a super PAC and nonprofit arm, is supporting Democratic Rep. Ron Barber, a former aide to Giffords, against McSally.

Carusone said the group received a letter from McSally’s campaign laying out the Republican’s position on access to guns for stalkers convicted of felonies and misdemeanors.

McSally “supports the full enforcement of federal laws that are in place to keep guns out of the hands of prohibited persons, including convicted felons (including stalkers), domestic abusers, the mentally ill, and people in the country illegally,” the letter states. It goes on to stress that McSally also “supports adding misdemeanor stalking to the list of criminal offenses that would keep dangerous individuals from obtaining guns in other states where stalking can also be a misdemeanor.”

I know this piece is two weeks old, but I only saw it on Thursday. I’m posting it because I respect Gabby Giffords for being a good winner. She got the person she was targeting to change her position and then when that happened she stopped pursuing that line of argument. That kind of honesty and maturity are too rare in politics today, and I was actually glad to read she possessed those traits.