NASHVILLE - The National Rifle Association is endorsing U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., in his 4th Congressional District re-election bid.
NRA Political Victory Fund Chairman Chris Cox said that the Pall Mall, Tenn., Democrat's "commitment to preserving our Second Amendment freedoms has earned him the NRA-PVF endorsement for the fifth consecutive time," according to a Davis press release.
"Gun owners and hunters in Tennessee can trust him to fight for their Second Amendment rights," said Cox, whose organization listed 10 bills or actions that Davis supported as the basis for the endorsement.
Davis faces Republican Scott DesJarlais of Jasper. DesJarlais, a physician, receive an "AQ" rating from the NRA. The designation can be awarded to a candidate whose answers to a questionnaire support NRA positions but who "does not yet have a voting record on 2nd Amendment issues," according to the organization.
The DesJarlais campaign, meanwhile, says DesJarlais was recently awarded the highest ranking by the Gun Owners of America, another Second Amendment rights group. Davis received a B-, according to the GAO's website.
The NRA Political Victory Fund also awarded a grade of "AQ" to 3rd Congressional District Republican candidate Chuck Fleischmann. It gave Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam a B- and Democrat Mike McWherter a C-.
Haslam, who is Knoxville's mayor, has been criticized over the course of the campaign for having been a member of New York City Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which backs laws it says will keep guns out of the hands of criminals.
Months into his campaign, Haslam quit the group, saying it had moved into areas he could not support.