By Ralph Weller
Editor, GunNewsDaily.com
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March 3, 2003 - It has been suspected for quite some time that gun owners were generally all mouth and no action. But, we really didn't understand the gravity of the situation until we received an email from John Brantuk, 2002 candidate for the 56th Assembly District in Southern California. John is upset, and he has every right to be.
John had a shot of winning his district had he received the pro-gun vote. Southern Californians don't need to be told how pro-Second Amendment John is. Suffice it to say, he's one of those rare types who makes protecting our Second Amendment rights a top priority in his personal and public life. But, the information he sent in his email is the type of information that makes the hearts soar of gun grabber Don Perata and other liberals of his ilk in Sacramento. It is the kind of information liberals know about, but very few pro-gun types are willing to acknowledge. So who got the pro-gun vote instead of John Brantuk? The answer is most disappointing.
John took a look at a list of people that regularly attended gun shows in his district. He compared the attendee list to voter registration lists to determine how many of the 12,000 gun show attendees were registered to vote.
Do you want to guess the results? Would you say only half are registered? You would be considered an eternal optimist if that was your guess. How about 30%? Well, you're getting closer, but you still have a long, long way to go. How about 10%. No, you're still too high. No... I'm not kidding. Try about 670 people. That's a whopping 5.6% of gun show attendees are registered to vote. Now, of those 670, an optimistic number of those who voted would probably range at about 50%. That means of the 12,000 gun show attendees only about 335 probably voted. Ok, that's being a little harsh. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that all 670 voted. Somehow inflating the number won't make most feel all that much better about the whole thing.
