Kansas Republican Tyler Tannahill is a late entry into Kansas Second Congressional race, running to fill the void being left by Lynn Jenkins, who is retiring. The candidate faced a few issues right from the start — like his decision to participate in a confederate flag parade in Lawrence, Kansas, one of the most liberal areas of his district.
But many Kansans had written off his campaign as a last minute salvo by Republicans to stop Steve Fitzgerald — especially considering at the time of his announcement, he didn’t live in the district, only last minute renting a home in Leavenworth, Kansas.
Timing has just not been Tannahill’s forte; but his announcement on February 13, 2018 that he would be hosting an AR-15 giveaway certainly caught a lot of people’s eyes the next day.
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With another mass shooting in the book conducted with the AR15, many Republicans are saying: now is not the time to discuss the issue, but Tannahill seems to make no move toward taking down his AR-15 campaign promoting giveaway,
Valentine’s day is a unique day in American history for gun violence, sometimes known for the Valentine’s Day Massacre, a 1929 mass shooting of 7 mobsters in Chicago using a submachine gun (Tommy Gun). This event so astounded the American public that within a few years, states had moved against the sell of submachine guns, and by 1934, things had changed, the National Firearms Law passed, taking automatic short barrel weapons, silencers, and other weapons out of the hands of the public. This would impact numerous weapons as they would be designed in the coming years — and keep them away from the buying public.
Republicans and the NRA have frequently moved against the 1934 act, recently calling to end the limitation of silencers.
In a crowded field in Kansas 2nd district, Republican Tyler Tannahill, a transplant, continues to try to win votes. Republicans of course hope that by the August primary, people will have long forgotten such heinous acts, but the winner of the AR15 will still love the candidate.
UPDATE: Note, in the original format of this I used the term ‘uzi’ which I think of a bit like a catch all rather than a specific reference to brand or quantity, as it has often been used and linked with short barrel fully automatic weapons, far more than later or even prior models. Few people quickly associate other brand identities. However, recognizing that this should be put into a context historically, I have updated to reflect “Tommy Gun” the product brand ID at the time period of the Chicago murders; though later weapons like Uzi/AK47 and other fully automatic weapons were impacted by the similar law.
Thursday, Feb 15, 2018 · 5:44:26 PM +00:00
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Chris Reeves
Update X2: Candidate Responds
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“No individual is for school shootings. It’s heartbreaking ... being a parent, our thoughts on that, for me personally, I am a strong believer in the Second Amendment,” Tannahill said in an interview with The Star. “I think we need to have a discussion of what can be done and throwing out comments of displeasure isn’t going to solve it.”
Tannahill said his campaign was raffling off the gun in support of the Second Amendment. He also said the contest was planned a month ago to coincide with the Kansas Republican Convention this weekend in Wichita.