In an interview with NBC12's Ryan Nobles, Brian Moran has this to say about Creigh Deeds' record on guns:
Well, it's extreme. He's the only Democrat who's ever received an endorsement from the NRA since 1989, I mean that's different from Warner, Kaine or myself or Jim Webb... There are some positions where I believe he's taken extreme positions. He voted against my legislation to keep guns out of the hands of those convicted of stalking and domestic abuse. He also voted against one gun a month, which was Doug Wilder's legislation. He also voted for guns in bars and family restaurants. That puts him on a very extreme position, and we're educating the voters with respect to that extreme position on guns.I checked Moran's claim about the stalking and domestic abuse legislation, because that one particularly shocked me (I mean, who could be against keeping guns out of the hands of people convicted of stalking and domestic violence, for god's sake?!?) and this appears to be it.
Denying stalkers weapons. Prohibits the possession of a firearm by a person convicted of stalking, sexual battery, or family member assault and battery, on a first conviction, for five years, and on a second or subsequent conviction, permanently.The bill was killed in committee, with Deeds voting to kill it (as Moran charges in the video). Note that Bob McDonnell voted "yea" on this one, along with Brian Moran. Weird.
UPDATE: Deeds has a robocall that claims his position on guns is the same as Mark Warner's. The exact language is:
Do you really think the Washington Post would have endorsed Deeds if he wasn’t a Democrat we can trust on issues of public safety? The truth is Deeds has the same position on gun control as Mark Warner and Jim Webb.The only problem is that in 2001, Mark Warner said "I oppose legislation to overturn Virginia's concealed-carry law, as well as any attempts to overturn the one-gun-a-month law." That's definitely different than Creigh Deeds, who as late as 2005 opposed one-gun-a-month.
On guns in bars, a Mark Warner spokesperson said in 2001 that "[Warner] doesn't believe guns and bars mix." In contrast, Creigh Deeds voted during 2008 and 2009 voted at least six times to allow concealed weapon permit holders to bring guns into bars. Deeds even voted to override Governor Kaine's vetoes on this one. That also appears to be significantly different than Mark Warner's stated position.
Bottom line: Brian Moran’s making a very serious accusation here (and elsewhere; Moran's said the same thing on the Washington Post), against Creigh Deeds. Specifically, Moran is charging that Deeds voted against gun restrictions for convicted domestic violence offenders and stalkers. So far, from everything I've found, Moran appears to be correct on this one.
