A local Indiana blogger has been trying to get the campaign of John McGoff to answer his inquiries about McGoff's connections to a gun control group: Indiana Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence. McGoff lists membership in the organization on his website.
From Call me Ahab:
On his bio, Dr. John McGoff claims that he was involved with the Indiana Partnership to Prevent Firearm Violence from 2000-2004; the Partnership currently operates under the name Indiana Partnership to Prevent Violent Injury and Death. Back in 1999, the Partnership was founded by Indianapolis area doctors, who were “concerned” about the “epidemic” of gun violence. The initial grant to found the partnership came from none other than our old buddies and funders of anti-gun astroturf nationwide: The Joyce Foundation, to the tune of half a million dollars a year.
In 2003 and 2004, the Indiana Partnership solidified their chops as anti-gun group, first by accusing the firearms industry of not being willing to “help firearms out of the hands of criminals”, and then in 2004 by joining forces with none other than the Brady Campaign to oppose the Indiana House Bill which granted legal immunity to Indiana gun owners if their firearms were stolen and used in a criminal act (this bill did in fact pass - ed).
The Partnership, like many other Joyce funded groups, also has a habit of commissioning “surveys” using questionable sampling techniques to produce meaningless results which they then tout as “popular support” for their proposed restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms.
In 2005, the Partnership changed their name, removing the “Firearm Violence” in favor of “Violent Death and Injury”. I can speculate lots of reasons as to why that change was made, foremost being that gun control has long been a losing ballgame in Indiana and they might have been tired of getting creamed. However, it’s pretty clear that their agenda hasn’t changed, as in that same year they received another grant from the Joyce Foundation; this time to cover all their operating expenses for a year.
If you go to the Partnership’s website check out their list of people on the “advisory board”, about 3/4 down the list you’ll find none other than Marian Towne, of Hoosiers Concerned About Gun Violence, which is yet another local anti-gun group.
The Indiana Partnership to Prevent Violent Injury and Death seems to be pretty firmly established as an anti-gun group masquerading as a public health group. Firearms violence isn’t a public health issue, it’s a law enforcement issue and should be handled as such. Dr. John McCoff’s involvement with this group brings tremendous questions to light about his actual support for the 2nd Amendment.
There are no questions about Dan Burton’s support for the 2nd Amendment, at least to me. I was going to vote in the Democratic primary in an effort to torpedo Barack the Hopemonger; however it’s more important to me to support a candidate who is going to represent our right to keep and bear arms in Washington.
If you’re a 5th district voter (and I know I have some that read here), make sure you get out on May 6th and vote for Dan Burton in the Republican primary. The last thing we need right now with the possibility of a Hillary or Obama presidency is to lose a pro-gun Congressman. It’s also kind of pleasant that I have been able to find something to vote for in this primary that I actually believe in.
