Clinton, Obama chase elusive gun votes

[derby378]

It's a drizzly, chilly morning in this tiny eastern Pennsylvania town, but the muddy parking lot outside the low-slung, cinder block community center for the gun show is full. Fathers linger over displays with their sons. Vendors crack jokes and swap stories.

To them, the scene is as American as a baseball game. But here, political issues--or more specifically one issue--are never far away. Mention Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to them and they shake their heads, their eyes narrowing with mistrust.

Guns are unusually important in Pennsylvania, which leads the nation in National Rifle Association membership and is home to almost 1 million licensed hunters. As its Democratic presidential primary approaches Tuesday, Clinton and Obama increasingly have cast themselves as sworn defenders of the Second Amendment.

...

Zakariah Johnson is chair of the Gun Owner Caucus of the Oregon Democratic Party. The group's motto: "Democrats don't want your guns. We've already got our own."

http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2008/04/clinton_obama_chase_elusive_gu.html

FYI: Amendment II Democrats contributed some content to the article as well. Check it out!

[derby378]

1. Kick!

And edited to reflect the blog's first appearance on the Chicago Tribune website.