Obama received support from ... a gun maker?

Here's a juicy little story about guns, hunting and politics:

USA Today ran an article Tuesday stating that Dan Cooper, chief executive of Cooper Arms in Montana, donated $3,300 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign and had donated to his 2004 Senate campaign after being "dazzled by Obama's speech at that year's Democratic National Convention."

Cooper Arms makes hunting rifles, and hunting gun owners — who largely support Republican John McCain and do not appreciate Obama's stance on gun control — went ballistic over the news in various Internet chat rooms.

Then came the first volley of damage control on the Cooper Arms website:

"Regarding the USA Today Article. Cooper Firearms of Montana, Inc. did not contribute and does not support in any fashion the campaign of Senator Obama. Nine months ago Dan Cooper (personally) made an online donation to the campaign in an effort to help defeat Hillary Clinton and in protest of American plant closures and the shipping of jobs overseas.

"Three months ago he made yet another donation to the McCain campaign and the RNC totaling over twice that given to Obama campaign. There is no doubt that the article in USA Today has caused a considerable response. To this end we are encouraged and stand with our fellow NRA members and supporters of the Second Amendment and against those who oppose it."

That was earlier. As of late Wednesday, the statement on the Cooper Arms website read: 

"In response to the recent article highlighting Dan Cooper’s personal political donations, the board of directors, shareholders and employees of Cooper Firearms of Montana, Inc would like to issue the following statement:

"The employees, shareholders and board of directors of Cooper Firearms of Montana do not share the personal political views of Dan Cooper.

"Although we all believe everyone has a right to vote and donate as they see fit, it has become apparent that the fallout may affect more than just Mr. Cooper. It may also affect the employees and the shareholders of Cooper Firearms.

"The board of directors has asked Mr. Cooper to resign as President of Cooper Firearms of Montana, Inc.

"Daily operations will continue with the competent staff currently in place in Stevensville, MT producing the finest, most accurate rifles money can buy.

"Dan Cooper has spent all of his working life producing the highest quality rifles built here in the USA. He started with nothing but the American Dream and built that into firearms company anyone would be proud of. We firmly believe Dan stands by the 2nd amendment. We wish him all of the best in his future pursuits."

Justice, some might say, moves swiftly in Montana.

—Pete Thomas

Photo: Anne Cusak / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Pete]

Good riddance to Cooper. Jumping in bed with gun-grabbers is a mortal sin.

[Jason]

Zumbo.

[David]

The sacking of Mr. Cooper is not so outrageous a reaction as it may appear. Various gunbloggers immediately investigated Dan Cooper's actual political contributions through the available public records and very quickly determined that he had not, in fact, donated anything to McCain or the GOP. So the first "CYA" statement on the company's website was, in the minds of many gun owners, pure bs. The rest followed from there.

[Molan Labe]

Yeah he is out of the biz, glad this got through the lib filter.

Nice looking firearms on thier site too, not the type obama will go after, at least at first. You have to feel bad for the employees though...

[jon]

c'mon people of the USA...would you still go for barack if he is for abortion, same sex marriage and tax hike...and the most fearing of all is his association with not only one but more of very, very questionable people...people who harbors hate and terror against the americans...God bless america...

[MakAZ]

A check of the FEC website shows that Dan Cooper never made any donations to John McCain though it was claimed he did on the CooperArms website. If you stand against us, you will go down like Zumbo. Goodbye Cooper Arms.

[Candace Imbody]

I have known Dan Cooper all of my life, as he is my brother. I am also an innovative business owner. The inspiration that led my brother to personally contribute the Obama campaign, was one of strategy (not that great of a strategy) however; I know the intent never was meant to throw CFA under the bus. Dan is totally devoted to the health, well being, and prosperity of his company, employees, customers and stockholders. Most of the affore mentioned have a closer relationship with him than his own family. I'm glad that all of you who have had the benefit of Dan's creative passion for all of these years are thrilled to take the first shot! Shame on you!!!!!!

[gun nut]

As a gun owner from Montana myself, i can't wait to buy one of Mr. Cooper's firearms. Notice I didn't say his former company's firearms, as I would not support them any longer. And yes, I cast my vote for Barack Obama on October 6th.

[KristianJL]

This is ridiculous. My family hunts... pheasant and turkey mostly... though my son's grandfather and uncle will take him up for deer in a couple weeks... and we all support Obama. It seems the NRA would only be happy if every American was armed with assault weapons and cop-killer ammo.

[TeeJ]

gotta love America don't ya. A man builds a company, his only mistake is to go public and allow a board of directors and shareholders in to help it grow and make things better for his employees and his family. The American Dream come true (as stated by the company itself), then the Board(company) throws him under the bus and backs over him too. How cute, welcome to (not my version of) America. Good luck Dan, you've got higher principles than the board of directors.

[Liberal member of the NRA]

I think it's a sad day when a person can be asked to resign because of who they support as president. I've been a member of the NRA for over 20 years, and a liberal for longer than that. I am supporting Obama because of MANY issues not just "Gun" rights. I'm disgusted with Copper Firearms. Now I know who NOT to buy from!

Liberal, African American, Homeschooling, NRA member(s) Family.

[Freedom4All]

Just the latest example of the Groupthink and absolute intolerance of the gun lobby, and the NRA in particular. A man who by all accounts has run a respectable business and produced quality firearms is run out of his business because he dared to hold a political view contrary to millionaire Wayne LaPierre. It's great to see some gun owners and hunters on here standing up to this nonsense. It shows how completely hollow all the NRA's raving about "freedom" really is.

[Aonter Gun owner for Obama]

It's come to this? You get ousted for who you support for President. I know who NOT to buy from now. I'm a Liberal gun owner, and I know NOT the only one.

Middle Class African American Homeschooling Gun owning Liberal who supports Obama/Biden

[rod]

Some might see it as Dan being thrown under the bus, but as a gun owner (hunting and sporting), I feel as if I've been thrown under the bus. I believe Obamma will make every effort to disarm America. His record already reflects it. I refuse to spend ANY money on a gun from Cooper if he's going to turn around and give it to someone who wants to take that gun away from me.

[John Morgan]

Maybe Obama will "spread the wealth" to Cooper Arm's former employees.

[Robert Niles]

I hunt quail, pheasants, grouse, mule deer, and elk. I support Obama and Cooper's decision.

Tomorrow, I go out with my family for our annual Elk hunt - and saddened that scared people thought that supporting the 2nd amendment meant throwing out the rest of the Constitution and our other freedoms (suport for a candidate).

Fear and intimidation won't stop me from protecting my 2nd amendment rights OR voting for Obama this November 4th.

[Nate]

Candace, gun nut, and KristianJL, you are deluded and dishonest.

The 'benefit' of Dan's creative passion was his own monetary benefit. He built his business for himself, which is the best reason to do anything -- despite the bleating of the Liberals who want to force people to do things for the benefit of others. Dan profited handsomely, and good for him. But his customers have a choice, just as he has. As to 'strategy', please, that is a ridiculous attempt to justify his very ill-considered donations and interview. He's betrayed shooting enthusiasts, plain and simple.

gun nut, your are a fool to support somebody who rates an 'F' by the NRA for their position on gun control. And how about the idea that Obama is the most liberal, and least experienced candidate to EVER be nominated? You apparently think that bigger government and shrinking liberty is a good thing. Sad.

Kristian, the 2nd Amendment isn't about hunting. It's about securing the ability of the People to remove an unjust Government. Your totally inaccurate view of the NRA is typical liberal propaganda. The NRA fights for the rights of Americans to own and use whatever firearms they wish, not just what you or Obama deem to be acceptable. And as to cop-killer ammo, that's what you're shooting at pheasants. Shotguns can be deadly too. But don't let facts and rationale thought get in the way of your emotional hysteria.

Those would who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.

[John Morgan]

quote:
I hunt quail, pheasants, grouse, mule deer, and elk. I support Obama and Cooper's decision.

That's good, fine & dandy, so maybe you and your family will buy enough firearms from CFA to keep them in business. I certainly will not and will do my best to make sure others in the market know what they are doing to their 2nd amendment rights buy supporting them.

[Matt]

Thanks for the Joe the Plumber example you Dems set we bitter clingers learned that if someone speaks up in the press about their political affiliations and you don't like it, you should crush them.

We are only following your fine example.

[Sen. Rev. Dr. E Buzz]

He put his money behind a guy that wants to put his business *out* of business.

That's just a stupid decision on his part. Maybe they can make hybrid guns that don't kill anything, or maybe put windmills on them so they will be more "green".

He got into bed with the guy who wants to see him broke and groveling for a handout and his employees out on the streets.

That board had no choice.

[Jon K.]

The NRA is a paranoid cult.

I'm all for gun ownership and hunting and such, but the NRA has fomented paranoia among gun owners that the Second Amendment is going to be repealed (it's not) and that there should be absolutely no regulation upon ownership of firearms whatsoever (there should be).

Everyone of sound mind should have a right to own a gun; however, guns shouldn't be ubiquitous in our society. There has to be some restrictions. That only reasonable.

[Trapper]

What does hunting have to do with the Second Amendment?
Absolutely nothing! All of you Elmer Fudds/Zumbo's type's is why gun-owners cannot unite as one to battle POS Washington elites, and liberal slime that want to take away a God-given right. They may not come for your ''duck gun'' right away, but beware, it will happen.
Tell me above poster, what is ''cop killer ammo''???
Explain exactly what that is. Tell me how it is different than any hunting cartridge?
7.62x39...(the stuff that magically ''shoots thru concrete'') is near same ballistics as the common 30/30.
I want hard evidence that 5.7x28 or 7.62x39 or 7.62x25 is any more dangerous than .223, or .308, or .22-250. Show me.
And I want an explaination of an ''assault rifle''. I can ''assault'' someone with a Marlin 336, or a Ruger 10/22, or a N.E.F. single-shot 45/70. The term assault rifle came from Germany from Hitlers thugs, which were full auto. How many full auto's are out there? Very few, from the numbers of semi-auto world. A handfull, and they are so tightly regulated, as the government wanted, not many can afford them, shoot them, or hassle with the ATF being able to come in at any given time to inspect. Assault rifle is a term that brain-washed lemmings have made up to confuse the masses, instill fear in masses by continuous lies & propoganda. My AK clones, AR clones are nothing more than semi-auto rifles. No more than your Remington 7400, or the little Marlin model 60.
You go ahead and vote obama. You vote your rights away. Our fore-fathers are ashamed. And mccain, he's no good either.
In the end, when you Fudd's lose your shotguns, and your pristene deer rifles that will be called ''sniper rifles'' when the ''chosen one'' bans them, you may then see the light.

[Ken Nelson]

Evidently Cooper didn't know about OpenSecrets.Org.

Cooper Firearms saw, quickly, what the management of newspapers like the LA Times don't seem to have sorted out... That irritating big chunks of your customer base with your political views is very bad for business.

People interested in the 2nd amendment, shooting,hunting and gun rights have a right to spend the crumbs the government leaves them as they see fit. They would prefer to _not_ see the profits from their purchases spent supporting an avowed enemy of the right to keep and bear arms. They rationally would choose from the many of Cooper's competitors that are politically neutral or active in supporting their gun rights.

[SGT Dan, WiseguyThreeOne]

The smell of fresh Astroturf in here is overwhelming. The number of "liberal gun owners" who pop up on the Internet supporting Obama is right up there with David Axelrod's "concerned lifetime Republican!" trolls who spam up conservative discussion groups.

The NRA is not a paranoid cult. The NRA is a group of politicall-minded skeet shooters and hunters who spend their time deciding which group of politically incorrect gun owners can get thrown under the bus next. If the NRA had taken a hard line on the Second Amendment from 1934 onward, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess.

[John]

Dan Cooper carelessly and contemptously betrayed the trust of those that believed in him. He deserved what he got.

For those "liberal" gun owners who believe their sporting pursuits are safe with a gun hater like Obama around, I say "Ask an Australian gun owner" Once common sporting firearms like the A5 Browning and the 10/22 Ruger are now banned from private ownership. I was a competitive pistol shooter for over 20 years, but can no longer compete and had to hand in my pistols. Not because I'm a risk to society, because I'm a shift worker. New laws meant licenced owners had to attend a certain number of competition days a year, my club shares a range and competes two days a month, I work two out of three weekends.

These are the sort of laws a gun hater like Obama is talking about when he mentions "reasonable" gun control laws. Our Prime Minister at the time, who admitted he "hates guns" described his laws as reasonable too..