Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights

Although many congressional Democrats, especially those from the South, have been strong opponents of gun control, Democrats for the Second Amendment (which calls itself "D2A") claims to include those exceptional Democrats who do not support gun control. While otherwise supporting the liberal political agenda of the Democratic Party, D2A refuses to back what it considers the national party's pro-gun control position. The organization claims that prior to the 1994 congressional elections, the Democratic Party had lost touch with the American public on the issue of gun control. Following the Republican capture of both houses of Congress in 1994, D2A commented, "You wouldn't listen to us until November, maybe now we have your attention."

D2A states that the organization began in 1994 with several pro-gun Democrats communicating on the Internet. They voiced mutual concerns about the direction their party was taking on the gun control issue. They established a more formal organization and began producing a bimonthly newsletter, D2A, which is distributed to the membership and to members of Congress and is made available at several gun shops and firing ranges around the nation. The newsletter contains brief articles about the organization, the defensive value of handguns, the meaning and value of a well regulated militia, and the current politics of gun control. Members communicate primarily via the Internet.

The members of D2A consider their organization a "think tank" that communicates with Democratic members of Congress regarding the attitudes of constituents on the issue of gun rights. They support the Democratic Party as "the party of heart and the party of help." Arguing that contemporary Democrats have strayed from the Democratic tradition of advocating the interests of common people that can be traced from Thomas Jefferson, the founder of the party, to modern presidents like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Jimmy Carter, D2A fails to note that Roosevelt and Johnson were strong supporters of gun control measures.

The organization claims that many constituents of Democratic senators and representatives believe in the right of citizens to own firearms for defense against violent crime and object to the Democratic Party's support for gun control legislation. D2A members say they differ with congressional Democrats only on the gun control issue. Therefore, members will work with non-Democrats only on the gun rights issue, lobbying against further gun control legislation and for repeal of existing legislation that the organization considers unconstitutional.

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