Sen. Reid works to protect our gun rights

The 2010 campaign season will be in full bloom much too soon. TV ads for Nevada's next Senate race began in January in Reno. Those attack ads were from the Republican Senatorial Committee aimed at their No.1 target " Sen. Harry Reid.

Now is the time to nail down some facts. The opposition knows Sen. Reid is far from being a beltway liberal but they will strive to convince voters, especially conservative and rural voters, that Reid is out of touch with Nevada. In that process, they will attempt to handcuff Reid to the administration's perceived lack of respect for the Second Amendment.

Sen. Reid tossed a big wrench in the machine when he said last week he would oppose any renewal of the poorly named and poorly designed Assault Weapon Ban. This should not surprise Nevada gun owners who have followed Reid's record supporting our Second Amendment rights. Reid consistently voted no on that gun ban, no in 1994, no in 2004, and now no again following Attorney General Eric Holder's statement that renewing the ban was a promise of the Obama campaign.

The White House stepped away from Holder's remarks by referring questions to the Justice Department. As the administration stepped away, Sen. Reid stepped up, announcing he would oppose renewal of the ban.

Reid also voted yes last week to the amendment striking down unwarranted regulation of citizen's ownership of firearms in their D.C. homes. Those regulations were the equivalent of a poll tax, designed to deny poor and minorities their rights.

Sen. Reid has a long record supporting the Second Amendment and Nevada's traditions of hunting and shooting. It is a record of action, not campaign talk. That record earned him a donation from the National Rifle Association's Political Victory Fund in 2004, confounding some friends and all enemies.

U.S. firearm manufacturers said the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act was vital to remedy the most serious problem they would ever confront. That problem was recurring nuisance lawsuits when their products were misused to commit crimes. Sen. Reid was an early supporter. Under Reid's minority leadership the bill received 62 Senate co-sponsors, making it filibuster-proof. It became law. Manufacturers can still be sued for negligence but not for third-party actions.

Most important to Nevada hunters was Reid's 2005 legislation titled the Reaffirmation of State Regulation of Resident and Nonresident Hunting and Fishing Act. Professional outfitters outside Nevada had sued, convincing a federal court that issuing more game tags to resident hunters than non-residents was not legal on public lands.

Those outfitters were poised to sign up wealthy foreign hunters able to pack in and stay weeks to take out Nevada's trophy mule deer, elk and desert bighorn. Those animals would not be there to sire the next generation or to reward resident hunters that organized, raised funds and worked hard for many years investing in Nevada habitat restoration and game preservation

Because it was a federal court ruling it became a federal issue. Sen. Reid fixed it. As an experienced parliamentarian he successfully attached the bill to a budget item and it quickly became a law benefiting resident hunters in all Western states. One Washoe sportsman was quoted saying, "Sen. Reid saved hunting in Nevada forever."

There is no other Senate Democrat ready to step into the leadership that has Sen. Reid's record of support for our values in Nevada and the West. If shooting or hunting is your sport or if personal rights are your issue, there is no question that having Harry Reid leading the Democrats in D.C. is essential.

- John Cahill is chairman of the Nevada Outdoor Democrats and a retired Nevada Juvenile Parole Officer living in Henderson.