As governor, Romney signed a 2004 measure instituting a permanent Massachusetts ban on assault weapons, to take the place of a federal assault weapons ban, which was then about to expire. The bill made Massachusetts the first state to enact its own such ban, and Romney supported the law with the comment: “These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people.”
http://myclob.pbwiki.com/07-01-2004
And the NRA endorsement?