by Joe Eldred
[email protected]

April 3, 2002

�Freedom is won and lost at the barrel of a gun.�

I don�t know who originally coined the phrase above, but I do know that it is a favorite of Louis Wein. Mr. Wein will be challenging New York�s incumbent governor, George Pataki, in the New York State Republican Party primary on September 10th. There is only one choice for America�s gun owners: Support Louis Wein in that race. 

Mr. Wein has many excellent attributes which more than qualify him for the office of governor. I encourage you to look at his resume at his web site http://www.LouisWein.com.  But by far his biggest qualification is that his is NOT George Pataki. During his term in office Governor Pataki has earned the eternal wrath of New York gun owners by ramming his infamous five-point gun control plan through the Republican legislature http://scopeny.org/pataki.html, something that his Democratic predecessor was unable to do. 

Even if supporting Louis Wein meant a Democratic victory, it would be worth it. Defeating Pataki in a primary would send a message to both the Republican and Conservative parties in New York that they can no longer afford to ignore gun owners, conservatives, and constitutionalists in New York. It would also make it less likely that the governor would be able to push through further infringements on our rights, because a Democratic governor would face resistance from the legislature that the anti-gun Pataki has not. 

Can Louis Wein win the Republican primary? YES!! It takes only about 250,000 votes to win a statewide primary election. Louis Wein received about 157,000 votes in 1990 when he ran for governor. In 1990, he spent only about $25,000 as a candidate on a third party line and he did not have the support of New York gun owners. In his symbolic challenge to Hillary Clinton and Rick Lazio in the 2000 New York senate race, Mr. Wein received A ratings from all the major New York gun organizations. 

What can you do?

If you are a Republican in New York you can vote for him on September 10th. You will be able to gather signatures to get him placed on the ballot. But even if you are not a Republican or you live in a state other than New York, there are things that you can do. There are many important battles going on in fifty different states, but if we could unseat a republican anti-gun governor in New York it would have national ramifications. 

Send a donation, whatever you can, to:

Draft Louis Wein For Governor Committee
PO Box 40008
Staten Island, NY 10304 
Toll Free: 877-716-3999

Also, and this is very important: I have committed to get at least twenty people to contact Randy Kozuch, NRA Director of State and Local Affairs and ask him to take the unusual step of endorsing a challenger in a state primary race. If the NRA would urge members to support Louis Wein, it would have a tremendous impact on the race. The following is the letter I wrote. Feel free to improve upon it and adapt it for your own circumstances. If you choose to email your letter, send it to [email protected]. When you send your letter please cc me or send me a note at [email protected] so that I can keep track of how many letters have been sent.

Possible Letter to Use:

Randy Kozuch , NRA Director of State and Local Affairs
11250 Waples Mill Rd.
Fairfax, Va. 22030

Dear Mr. Kozuch:

I am a New York Gun Owner. I realize that historically the National Rifle Association has generally not gotten involved in state primary races. I am writing you to ask that your organization make an exception this year in New York. We are facing front-runners in both major parties that are enemies of the right to keep and bear arms. Not only are both candidates for the Democratic Party nomination anti-gun, but so is the incumbent Republican Governor, George Pataki. 

I urge you to take an early and active roll in encouraging your membership to support Louis Wein in the Republican gubernatorial primary against Governor Pataki. In addition to his other fine attributes, Mr. Wein is a true believer in the right to keep and bear arms. With the support of the NRA, New York will finally have a governor who is a real friend of gun owners, and we will finally be able to move from the defensive to an offensive strategy for restoring our right to defend ourselves and our families. If you wait until after the primary to get involved, it will be too late for New York.


Sincerely,

Editor's Note: Though the above-mentioned quote is unfamiliar to us, Communist China's Former Thug Leader, Mao Tse-tung's quote is very similar:

"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."