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Fiore’s furor tame in Trump’s GOP

State Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, R-National Rifle Association, is probably best known around these parts for her Second Amendment obsession.

She calls herself an advocate and defender of gun rights, but when late-night television comics are getting laughs with your pistol-packin’ mama routine, you’ve lapsed into obsession. And self-parody, come to think of it.

Fiore’s intense focus has manifested itself in everything from proposing campus-carry legislation to posing for a glossy calendar in which she displays her considerable guns and ammo. It’s no surprise, then, that Fiore’s run for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District also features her and a firearm with her assurance to potential voters that, “There is no bigger supporter of the 2nd Amendment than I am. … My support has gotten me an A+ rating from the NRA and their endorsement in past races. I will always fight for your right to bear arms.”

In her spare time, she’s run a home health care business called Always There 4 You, which is no longer there for you after shutting its doors last year and having its license pulled by state regulators. She told the Review-Journal in November, “To put it simply, it happened because ‘They,’ the army of regulators, bureaucrats, and inspectors, followed by the ever-increasing array of taxes and fees, won.”

Perhaps that’s so, but I also suspect Fiore found there wasn’t enough time in the day to operate a licensed business while defending Nevadans’ endangered gun rights against enemies seen and clandestine.

Take her downright incendiary Saturday morning talk show, “Walk the Talk,” on KDWN 720 AM. For those who have missed it, the program divides its time with Fiore’s views on conservative politics, suspected Republicans in Name Only and the latest news from Michele Fiore’s fascinating life as a popular legislator, basher of Islam and fierce advocate of the Second Amendment.

And if you want to purchase a copy of her 2016 “Walk the Talk” calendar, you’re well within your God-given rights to do so.

These days, Fiore has added magazine publisher to her list of marketing credits. It’s called “Truth in Politics the Magazine.” With a name like that you’d think it would be the shortest magazine in history, but December’s first volume ran 38 pages.

You’ll never guess who was on the cover holding a shotgun.

With generous advertising from reliable conservative political donor and equipment rental king Don Ahern, Truth in Politics represents yet another vehicle to promote Fiore’s career and perpetual campaign. The December edition features stories with titles such as “Islam Is the Religion of War,” “Gun-free Zones Put Innocents in danger,” “What Happened in Bunkerville Did Not Stay in Bunkerville” and “Survival of the American Constitution,” along with a half-dozen pictures of you-know-who’s smiling face.

“We must be vigilant or our liberties can be taken away from us,” she writes in that first edition. “Laws, ordinances, and regulations that get passed during each session of our congress, legislators, city, and county governments can and may erode our freedoms and our rights. … Truth in Politics can be a terrific tool — a pry bar to get at the truth, a vise or pair of pliers to squeeze out valid information, or even when we want a wake-up moment, it can be used as a political hammer.”

One glance at the magazine, and you’ll find the truth in Michele Fiore’s politics on almost every page. Whether that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up largely depends on your own view of the world.

I suppose some would consider Fiore a right-wing reactionary, a political alarmist pandering to the fears and prejudices of her constituents and anyone who happens across her nutty radio show and magazine. I know I always have.

But after spending recent months listening and watching Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump foment anger, hatred and outright bigotry under the banner of political discourse, Fiore’s fiery rhetoric and gun obsession feel almost quaint by comparison.

Can it be that Nevada’s right-wing, pistol-packin’ mama has become a mainstream Republican?

John L. Smith’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. He can be reached at 702-383-0295 or jsmith@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith

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