Two weeks before Wednesday?s White House event in which President Obama advocated ideas for tightening gun laws, Republican Congressman Steve Stockman was hosting a group of East Texas pastors in Washington to prepare the opposition. The group ? which included ministers, home-school advocates and members of Stockman?s family ? attended several days of meetings in early January paid in part by Gun Owners of America, a group that advocates repealing federal laws banning firearms?from school zones. There were?sessions at the conservative Heritage Foundation, they heard from Barry Goldwater?s? one-time campaign manager and?Christian historian David Barton of Aledo conducted a tour of the Capitol, according to an East Texas pastor who attended. Barton heads a Texas group, Wallbuilders, which denies the separation of church and state.
Stockman supports gun rights. This week, he proposed impeaching Obama over the issue.?The East Texas congressman ?was first elected in the 1994 GOP wave, ousting Democratic veteran Jack Brooks. Stockman?s wife described Brooks as ?an evil man? whom God ordained should be swept from office, the attendee said. ?Just exactly what evils Brooks represented was a subject I sought help on from the group,? the attendee said. Brooks had supported the 1994 Brady bill requiring background checks on individuals buying firearms. Voters turned Stockman out after one term, and after a failed run for railroad commissioner, he was re-elected in November. During the meetings with pastors, Stockman was sworn in ceremonially at the Heritage Foundation by Texas evangelist Rick Scarborough. Scarborough encouraged pastors to preach on political issues and endorse candidates from the pulpit.
?The group gathered for a photo standing on the steps of the Capital and sang God Bless America. One of the home-school mothers lamented we could get arrested,? the attendee said. Some home schoolers described themselves as ?full quiver families.? ?This is the belief that God wants married women to produce as many children as they?can for their full quiver,? the attendee said. On a bus provided by trip sponsors, the group watched a movie, The Last Ounce of Courage, which centers on the struggle of Bob Revere, a man dealing with what he feels is his freedom of religion under attack by the government and an ACLU-like group. ?The hero says he will become a ?freedom fighter? to fight the enemies who seek to harm the country he fought for,? the attendee said.
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