Republicans Make Senate Gains as America Rejects Gun Control Again

Republicans gained Senate seats on Wednesday in Indiana, Missouri, and North Dakota as American rejected gun control again.

Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) campaigned for new regulations on gun shows and expanding background checks to prohibit gun purchasers by those accused of terrorist ties, rather than those convicted. ABC News reports that Donnelly’s pro-gun challenger, NRA endorsed Mike Braun (R), won the race 53 percent to 43 percent.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) also ran on a gun control platform, openly voicing support for more regulations on gun shows. Behind the scenes she supported even more gun control, like a “semiautomatic rifle ban,” but hid that support from voters. Missouri residents learned of her support for the many additional gun controls via a Project Veritas video in which he staff laughed at how easy she was able to hide her anti-gun intentions from voters.

McCaskill’s pro-gun challenger, NRA-endorsed Jose Hawley, won the race 51 percent to 45 percent.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) stood against gun rights in the seminal October 6, 2018, vote to confirm pro-Second Amendment Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh. She admitted afterward that opposing him was not politically smart, but that admission did little to redeem her campaign. Her pro-gun challenger, NRA-endorsed Kevin Cramer, won the race 55 percent to 45 percent.

Elsewhere, such as Tennessee, the open Senate seat went to pro-gun, NRA-endorsed Marsha Blackburn (R). Her challenger, Phil Bredesen, pushed for universal background checks and other gun control, and even left Tennessee during the campaign in order to be at NYC fundraiser hosted by Michael Bloomberg.

Blackburn won the Tennessee race 55 percent to 44 percent.

In Florida, gun control stalwart Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) is losing to Rick Scott (R). While the margin of victory is currently so close that it triggered an automatic recount, that fact that Nelson is this embattled is another mark against the gun control message.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.