“There was a lot of concern in North Dakota that there is always this push for one size fits all. North Dakota has one of the highest rates of gun ownership and the lowest rate of gun violence. And I think people there look at this from the standpoint that: This is my Second Amendment right. This is part of our culture in North Dakota. And they expressed those opinions to me pretty loud and clear.” – Freshman Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-North Dakota) in Heidi Heitkamp defends gun vote [via politico.com]

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38 COMMENTS

  1. A senator listening to her constituents. Imagine that. I guess that makes her a coward. We could use more cowardice like that.

    • Want to bet that she will be one of the FEW Democrats that remain in her job after the next election? I would say her odds are good.

    • I was visiting an anti-gun site, and they are saying she was “threatened” by gun owners and she is “afraid for her life” which is why she voted our way.

      Gun grabbers really like to paint us in the worst, most evil light they can.

  3. Don’t think for one second that if the donks needed just one more vote, that she wouldn’t have provided it. The only loser in this debacle is Pat Toomy, a self inflicted wound. The democrats who needed it got the cover they wanted. That’s all this bill was about, the 2014 election.

  4. What a great article demonstrating that there are politicians who understand they work for the people as opposed to each other. Senator Heitkamp has demonstrated that she can stand on her own despite pressure from her party, to do what is right for HER constituents. When leaders with agendas harass co-legislators, they need to be reminded that each office holder owes allegiance to the voters who put them into their respective office, not those they work with. This would be a good lesson learned for the likes of Schumer, DiFi, and others who while demanding party religiosity, have already decided that THEY know what is right for the people, irrespective of the actual desires of the constituency.

  7. Wow. A Democrat who is standing up for the 2nd amendment…or any item of the bill of rights when it is not convenient for their aspirations for a tyrannical government. But of course, she may be more worried about her job than the Bill of Right. Regardless, she still needs to get booted from office or change party affiliation. Doesn’t matter to me what party affiliation as long as it is not the Democrat Party, for the dems have proven to me that they will override the will of the people and the protections set forth in the constitution without restraint.

  8. Of course no one seems willing to consider that there is one size that fits all. You can kinda stumble upon it by concentrating for a brief time on the phrase, “…shall not be infringed.”

  9. I took a chance once on a smooth talking snake oil salesman, never again. I don’t care if a Dem charges coma’s headquarters with a musket yelling “its for Paul Revere” No dems are ever getting anymore votes from me. Tea Party members are a plus, sure I’ll have to dust off my bible(Now where did I put that?) Randy

  10. North Dakota also has one of the most ‘homogeneous’ populations in the US… That always seems to have some effect on the prevalence of criminal activity.

    • Subzero for weeks keeps out the bugs and the riff-raff.
      Skeeters big enough to cross-breed with turkeys in the summer too.

  11. doesn’t matter if you listen to your constituents. if you don’t see things our way, you are a COWARD…

  12. I can’t help thinking “it’s a trap.” If her vote had been pivotal, she would have been required to fall on her sword. Dems are good at reading the whip count, and then letting purple state legislators vote to cover their jobs once the issue has been decided. If she had voted for a gun restriction and lost her job, she would have been taken care of with consultant work, fed job posting, ambassadorship, etc. If she is truly for gun rights, she might be expected to cosponsor a bill for reciprocal carry or such. I can hear the comments “..but the republicans…” Yeah. Many of them are bad and untrustworthy. Most of the dems are untrustworthy. If you are a dem, and this bothers you, change it. Vote against any who infringe on the 2nd, and make sure they know you did, and why.

  13. but on the other hand, do we want NY Senators listening to their constituants?
    No, we want them to think, and memorize the 2A.
    We don’t want low knowledge voters sitting in congress.

  14. Democrats hate us. Heitkamp is not only an exception to the rule, but she’s also a role model. It took a lot of courage and respect for her constituents to stand opposed to the Fuhrer President and his brownshirts party leadership.

    • I disagree. Mike in ID has it right. Her vote didn’t matter to the outcome. If it passed the senate, it would have died in the house. It was a show vote, nothing more.

      • Maybe it was a show vote, but what the rest of the Democrats showed was cowardice under fire, while she showed courage. Three Dems voted against the Chin-man-Tumor bill. Three. And she was one of them.

        • I could be wrong about her, I don’t know her at all. But, people said the same things about Sen McCaskill from MO, Sen Nelson from NE and every other “reasonable” democrat. When push came to shove, they all fell in line when Chicago cracked the whip on Obamacare. Every damn one. I have very little doubt she wouldn’t do the same.

        • Chuck – See my response below regarding the political differences between Obamacare and gun control.

      • My point isn’t really about health care or gun control. It is that democrats will always vote how they are told. And, I’m not necessarily saying that is bad, just a reality. Go ahead and thank her, that is the right thing to do. Just remember, she is not really on our side. Nobody in Washington really is. They can be bought and sold, and are every day.

  16. Would have gotten the same pro-2A vote from Rick Berg, without the vote for Harry Reid for majority leader.

  17. I wrote and thanked her for voting in defense of the Second Amendment (I live in ND), but I’m still concerned about the rumors I’ve heard that she would have changed her vote had it been the pivotal one needed to pass the bill.

    Now that she has voted this way and backed it up with supporting 2nd Amendment statements, it should make it harder for her to change her vote if this bill is resurrected in the near future (still possible, I’m told). But we’ll keep a close watch on her during future gun votes; I still trust her as much as any politician (which is to say, not at all).

  18. I hate to burst bubbles but….. She was permitted to vote that way by her democrat masters. Since she is a freshman they need her to be re-elected. Once she’s safely past her first term, she’ll have to toe the line, just like the rest of them. Since democrats are not permitted to vote their consciences she’ll be one more cog in the treason party’s wheel

    • Exactly Mike. Just like some of the no votes on Obamacare from some of the “conservative” blue dog democrats. They were allowed by Pelosi and Hoyer to vote no to save their seats,(did not save some of them like Taylor and Edwards) others, like Stupak and Gordon, voted aye and retired. If Heitkamp’s vote would have been the deciding one, she would have voted in the affirmative.

      • Yes, although Obamacare is on a different level than guns. In 2008, every Democratic presidential candidate made universal healthcare the centerpiece of his platform, and the Democratic nominee won the election handily. This was evidence for the argument that Obamacare had a popular mandate (even though the law as proposed did not).

        By contrast, the gun control proposals came up suddenly and had no place in either the 2008 or 2012 campaigns.

        If the situation had been reversed, gun control would have been approved, and Obamacare defeated. (Or, more likely, Obama would have lost in 2008 because he wouldn’t have been able to win with gun control at the center of his platform.)

    • So let me get this straight. She voted right and you’re still complaining, is that about it?

      “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Walt Kelly

    • The harsh reality, yes.

      It does happen that a more senior Democratic senator will break from the party, as Robert Byrd, Kent Conrad, and Ben Nelson did when they voted to put Alito on the Supreme Court – but this tends to be the exception. (And whether each would have voted that way if his vote had been the deciding vote is another question.)

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