Ulmer stops campaigning to look for new gun
JUNEAU (AP) -- Running for governor in a state where gun control more often refers to marksmanship than new laws, Fran Ulmer would like to downsize a bit.
The Democrat gubernatorial candidate took a break while campaigning in Galena last week to shop for a new, smaller handgun.
Ulmer received her concealed handgun permit earlier this month and would like to find a gun that she can carry while campaigning, she said.
Her .44-caliber Magnum revolver is perfect for bear protection, but not understated enough to be worn under a suit coat or in a purse, she said.
''Obviously, it needs to be a small, light handgun that isn't so awkward to carry that I wouldn't end up carrying it,'' Ulmer told The Associated Press.
Ulmer is vying to replace two-term Gov. Tony Knowles and become the first female elected to the office in the state's history.
And in a conservative state where candidates are adept at honing their anti-gun control messages, Ulmer too has a has gotten into the act.
She said she is opposed to any new laws restricting gun owners and her recent campaign newsletter highlights her ''anti gun control message.''
The Ulmer campaign took top honors at the July 13 Bear Paw Festival parade with a float depicting the candidate hunting for bears, the newsletter points out.
Ulmer notes that she grew up hunting and fishing with her father in Wisconsin and also has occasionally hunted for deer in Alaska with her husband.
As minority leader in the state House in 1994, she voted in favor of the state's concealed handgun permit law, she said.
In May, Ulmer took a handgun training course required under Alaska law and was issued her concealed handgun permit after fingerprinting and a background check.
She said no threats have been made against her, but that she expects to frequently travel alone during the campaign and would like ''a little extra insurance.''
Ulmer faces political longshots Michael Beasley and Bruce Lemke for her party's nomination in the Aug. 27 primary, but she is expected to have a tough fight for the Nov. 5 general election.
The Republican front-runner is U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski, who also faces opposition from several candidates including Wayne Ross, a board member of the National Rifle Association.
In May, Ulmer took a handgun training course required under Alaska law and was issued her concealed handgun permit after fingerprinting and a background check.
She said no threats have been made against her, but that she expects to frequently travel alone during the campaign and would like ''a little extra insurance.''
Ulmer said she doesn't expect gun control to be an issue in the campaign and her stop at a Galena gun shop near the bed and breakfast she was staying at was not part of the campaign.
A Murkowski spokesman dismissed it as a campaign stunt and disputed Ulmer's record on gun control. The Knowles-Ulmer administration favored a plan to destroy confiscated weapons rather than sell them at auction, said Murkowski spokesman Dan Saddler.
''I think this is a pure campaign ploy, trying to get her picture in the paper carrying a gun,'' Saddler said.
It was only after a lawsuit by the GOP candidate Ross, who was attorney for the Alaska Gun Collectors Association, that the state agreed to sell some confiscated, surplus and unclaimed guns to licensed dealers.
Illegal guns such as sawed-off shotguns and fully automatic weapons are still destroyed.