The National Rifle Association wants Tennessee legislative candidates to declare whether they will back Republican leaders or the NRA next year if that's what it takes to put a controversial guns-in-parking lots bill up for a full vote, reports the Chattanooga Times-Free Press.
In a gun-issues survey sent to Republican and Democratic candidates, the NRA devotes two of 27 questions to the Safe Commute Act, which cleared most committees but never came up for House and Senate floor votes this year.
The NRA-backed bill, as amended, sought to block public and private employers' ability to bar workers, customers and most visitors from keeping firearms in locked vehicles on company property, provided the weapons are stored out of sight.
The survey asks candidates if they would support the bill and blames Republican leaders for blocking full House and Senate votes this year.
"As a legislator, would you follow the demands of party leadership even if they run contrary to the NRA's legislative agenda?" the survey asks.
In an interview, NRA spokesman Andrew Arulandandam called the survey question "pretty straightforward and self-explanatory."
"At the NRA we're not shy. We don't mince words," he said.
....House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, said the survey question "sounds like they were asking, 'Will you do what we tell you to do instead of sticking by leadership?'"
...When Democrats controlled the General Assembly, the NRA routinely criticized leadership for bottling up gun bills.
This election cycle, Democrats aren't shedding any tears for the GOP chieftains.
"It's the residue of the Republicans promising the moon [while in the minority], knowing they couldn't deliver anything" Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle of Memphis said. "And now that they're piloting the space shuttle, it's different."
Switching metaphors, Kyle said, "It's the chickens coming home to roost."
Posted by Tom Humphrey on July 9, 2012 at 8:31 AM | 
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Source: http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/humphrey/2012/07/nra-asks-candidates-to-choose.html
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