Former Idaho Democratic Congressman Walt Minnick has been hired by his former colleague Gabrielle Giffords’ to assist her effort to expand background checks on gun purchases. Minnick’s Washington, D.C., firm is Majority Group LLC, which he founded in 2011 after losing his first re-election bid to GOP challenger and now-Rep. Raul Labrador. Minnick and two others from Majority Group registered as lobbyists effective March 31 and filed their disclosure report April 12 as the Senate was preparing to vote on background checks, which were ultimately rejected. The filing is available on the Sunlight Foundation website. Minnick has had his differences with the NRA, getting a “D+” grade when he defeated Republican Bill Sali in 2008. Two years later, the NRA boosted his grade to a “B+,” while Labrador got an “A”/Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman. More here. (AP file photo, of Walt Minnick)

Question: Can't trust those dern Democrats with guns, can you?

An angry President Obama criticized a minority of the Senate on Wednesday who helped defeat a proposal to expand background checks on gun purchases. “It all came down to politics,” Obama said in the Rose Garden. “All in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington.” Obama was flanked by the family of Daniel Barden, who was among the 20 children and six adults killed Dec. 14 in a gun massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Also with Obama: former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head during an assasination attempt in 2011. Just hours before, the Senate voted 54-46 to defeat an amendment by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa. on tougher background checks/Gregory Korte and Catalina Camia, USA TODAY. More here. (AP photo: President Barack Obama is shown with former Rep. Gabby Giffords, left, and Mark Barden, the father of Newtown shooting victim Daniel)

Question: Do you support/oppose decision by U.S. Senate re: gun background checks?

Pictures of liberals holding rifles and code phrases like “Idaho’s unique lifestyle” have long provided the cover that Democrats needed to compete for rural votes. Idaho’s four-term U.S. Senator Frank Church (1924-1984) was no exception. While firmly antiwar in the 1960s and 70s, he publicly opposed federal gun control as well. In 1965, as Congress debated early versions of the Gun Control Act of 1968, Church collected 60,000 Idaho signatures opposing a provision floated by Senator Tom Dodd that would have required registration of long guns. Church ceremoniously delivered the petitions to Dodd’s subcommittee/Nathaniel Hoffman, Blue Review. More here. (Wikipedia photo of Frank Church)

Question: Do you think Idaho Democrats are as passionate in support of guns as Idaho Republicans?

Coeur d'Alene School Trustee Brent Regan (pictured) has issued the following statement to a school district patron who criticized his anti-Obama joke at a legislative forum Saturday. The patron's criticism, Regan's response, and an editorial on racism by Regan are now online at the Coeur d'Alene Press site:

Brent Regan (to school constituent): “Thank you for taking the time to contact me. I assure you I am not a racist, as people who know me will confirm. I am sure that if we got to know each other that you would also come to that conclusion. I believe that people should be judged by their actions and then their words but absolutely never by their race. This is the opposite of racism. I also believe a person is responsible for what they say, but not what others chose to infer from those words. Your suspicions of my narrow mindedness are unfounded as I rigorously encourage the consideration of all viewpoints in an attempt to craft a solution that is the best fit for a given situation. Prior to making my comments at the meeting I made a clear statement that I was participating as an individual, not as a Trustee, specifically to insulate others from my comments. It is unfortunate that was not also quoted as I would not presume to speak for others unless specifically directed to do so. More here.

Thoughts?

Nick Anderson/Houston Chronicle