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Chris Jacobs Drops Re-Election Bid After Bucking His Party on Guns – The New York Times

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Chris Jacobs Drops Re-Election Bid After Bucking His Party on Guns – The New York Times

On Friday, facing intense backlash from party leaders, a potential primary from the state party chairman and a forceful dressing down from Donald Trump Jr., Mr. Jacobs announced that he would abandon his re-election campaign.

The episode, which played out as President Biden pleaded with lawmakers in Washington to pass a raft of new laws to address gun violence, may be a portent for proponents of gun control, who had welcomed Mr. Jacobs’s evolution on the issue as a sign that the nation’s latest mass tragedies might break a decades-old logjam in Washington.

Just last week, Mr. Jacobs, who is the scion of one of Buffalo’s richest families and was endorsed by the National Rifle Association in 2020, had been an easy favorite to win re-election, even after a court-appointed mapmaker redrew his Western New York district to include some of the state’s reddest rural counties, areas he does not currently represent.

But by Friday, after local gun rights groups had posted his office phone number on the internet and local party leaders had started pulling their support one by one, political analysts predicted he may well lose a primary challenge based solely on his embrace of firearm restrictions.

Voters, not NRA money, drive the resistance to gun control

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Voters, not NRA money, drive the resistance to gun control

In 2020, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) was the top recipient of money from members of the “gun rights” industry. According to Open Secrets, his campaign received a total of $142,653 for the 2019-2020 cycle. That put the so-called gun lobby at 33 on the list, far behind other industries, like real estate and accounting.

Health professionals alone gave roughly seven times more money to Scalise ($1,072,904) than the gun lobby did. Meanwhile, individuals who simply put down “retired,” instead of any industry at all, gave 100 times more, just shy of $14 million.

The Adirondack Hunter with a gun and butcher knife strapped to his belt 🗡

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The Adirondack Hunter with a gun and butcher knife strapped to his belt 🗡.

I was out walking along Piseco Powley Road and walked past a hunter with a pistol and a butcher knife strapped to his belt. It’s the wilderness and totally unremarkable, people like to be prepared to survive in the woods as necessary. That or more likely he was looking for coyotes to dispatch. He did mention hearing a lot of ‘yotes recently at night.

I’ve thought about it for years, but I’ve never moved forward on getting my pistol permit. Sure I own several long guns, most small caliber guns for small game – a couple of rifles and shotguns. I’d like to get my pistol permit but I really resent the process and I’m not really willing to go in front of a judge or go down to the police station to fill out a lot of paper work and pay a bunch of money to the government, then have to get recertifed every three years.

I honestly don’t like or trust authority figures. I don’t want to go to a police station or in front of a judge to plea my case. I know the politics game well enough and I know few institution men are completely honest brokers. Plus I feel like having to have a permit to own or carry a gun in remote country is completely violating out rights. If you are not currently in jail or a mental institution, then you should have the right to own and carry whatever firearm you want especially in the woods or on your own land.

Some states are closer to that ideal. Many of the states on my short list for settling down are closer to that ideal, gun rights are a big priority in the red states.

Map: Spruce Mountain Trail