Hot Button: No gun for Palin

Gun no-show

The National Rifle Association Foundation will not present an assault weapon to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at an upcoming banquet despite media reports about the event, including one from its own magazine.

“The event is not happening,” NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said. “Sarah Palin will not be attending. She was invited, but declined due to a family commitment. This happened weeks ago.”

Several newspapers picked up a story published in the May issue of the NRA’s American Rifleman magazine that said the governor would be given a custom AR-15 at the foundation’s May 16 banquet.

The rifle, specially chambered for a .50 Beowulf cartridge, was made by Templar Consulting gunmaker Bob Reynolds and features a Big Dipper, an outline of the state of Alaska, a moose and an NRA logo as well as an inscription, “In Honor of Governor Sarah Palin.”

The NRA could not confirm whether Mr. Reynolds still had plans to ship the all-white “Alaska Hunter” weapon to the governor. He would only say “no presentation will be made.”

Hypocrisy pageantry

Miss California USA officials have said publicly that they are considering stripping the crown from Carrie Prejean, in part because she has become a spokeswoman for a pro-marriage group.

Her association with the group may violate her 12-page pageant contract, which prohibits her from making personal appearances, conducting interviews or appearing in advertisements without approval from pageant officials, among other things.

She also is under investigation over a racy modeling photo of her, which has surfaced on the Internet.

But at the same time, the director of the pageant has posed topless and will appear in an ad campaign on gay rights.

Shanna Moakler has agreed to appear in a new ad in support of homosexual marriage, along with some other former pageant queens.

Ms. Moakler, who was first runner-up in the 1995 Miss USA pageant, has posed for topless photos as well. She was Playboy’s playmate of the month in December 2001.

No word yet on whether she is investigating herself, or whether she will strip herself of her own crown.

Locking up Keyes

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