Yeah, well Reagan and Bush had the same flaw -- so he is in some good company. However, there is hope:
Gov. Romney was recently asked by Mary Katharine Ham at Townhall.com about renewing the federal AWB after the massacre at Virginia Tech:
MKH: Now, you supported an assault weapons ban in Massachusetts. This tragedy is being used to push the renewal of the federal assault weapons ban. What would your stance be if that comes up again?
Gov. Romney: Well, you know, the weapon used here was not an assault weapon, so I’m not sure what the relevance is. And, that’s what we have to recognize. The people who want to remove Second Amendment rights will look for everything they can. You know, if there’s a weapon that puts our police at risk, like machine guns, of course, then that’s something I would, of course, consider. But, look, we’ve gotta fundamentally recognize the need to protect the right to bear arms and the fact that there are people who are trying to remove that right inch by inch, and we’re gonna have to defend against that.
(EXCLUSIVE: Townhall.com sits down with Gov. Romney, April 20, 2007)
You probably aren't terribly exicited with Gov. Romney's answer, but he didn't say he would sign a federal AWB and chose instead to warn against the slow erosion of 2nd Amendment rights. That can give us some hope that he will listen to all sides of the argument and is open to persuasion on a subject --- just like he was on stem cells.
The record shows that every gun bill signed by Gov. Romney was endorsed by the NRA and/or the Gun Owners' Action League in Massachusetts. Romney left the state of Massachusetts in better shape concerning the 2nd Amendment than he found it. That is the best anyone could have done with an 85% Dem (veto-proof), anti-gun Legislature.
You can’t support the RKBA and oppose “Assault Weapons.”
>>Yeah, well Reagan and Bush had the same flaw — so he is in some good company.
Leaving aside that the AWB had nothing to do with Reagan, this merely tells that Mitt supporters don’t care about the RKBA, as obviously Mitt doesn’t either. Telling me Mitt is as bad on guns as the worst moments of the GOP is hardly a campaign song. And Bush I arguable lost his re-election because of his moronic support of the import ban. You think that gun owners took Perot more seriously after that?
>>Gov. Romney: Well, you know, the weapon used here was not an assault weapon, so I’m not sure what the relevance is. And, that’s what we have to recognize. The people who want to remove Second Amendment rights will look for everything they can. You know, if there’s a weapon that puts our police at risk, like machine guns, of course, then that’s something I would, of course, consider. But, look, we’ve gotta fundamentally recognize the need to protect the right to bear arms and the fact that there are people who are trying to remove that right inch by inch, and we’re gonna have to defend against that.
He seems to duck the question, and settle on the principle that you can contemplate a ban based on what gun was used by a criminal that day, and the VT shootings don’t help ban AWs.
He then craps on the 2nd Amendment by using “police at risk” for justifying a ban (that’s how the AWB has always been justified, and the mantra of the police state).
And machine guns are legal, and the most useful military weapons based on how soldiers are armed, and therefore the most useful to an armed citizenry acting as a bulwark against a standing army.
He sounds like EVERY DEMOCRAT who is up for reelection in a state less liberal than Massachusetts. And he has not clue about the basis for the 2nd amendment, just lip service while most of his words belie his hostility to an armed citizenry.
(EXCLUSIVE: Townhall.com sits down with Gov. Romney, April 20, 2007)
You probably aren’t terribly exicited with Gov. Romney’s answer, but he didn’t say he would sign a federal AWB and chose instead to warn against the slow erosion of 2nd Amendment rights. That can give us some hope that he will listen to all sides of the argument and is open to persuasion on a subject -— just like he was on stem cells.
>>The record shows that every gun bill signed by Gov. Romney was endorsed by the NRA and/or the Gun Owners’ Action League in Massachusetts.
Yet he cheerily abetted the oppressors by saying things like in my tagline. (And never repudiating it.)
If you want to hear from someone (a Democrat) who actually had a clue about the purpose of the 2nd Amendment, Google “Humphrey Gun Quote.”