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| Human Events
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Romney’s Four Wedge Issues
by Human Events
Posted: 11/21/2007
HUMAN EVENTS EDITOR Jed Babbin (JB
JB: Governor, even in a lot of blue states, theres an awful lot of gun rights concerns. Well, number one, youre invited down here to go bird hunting any time the seasons on, but, in all seriousness: do you view the second amendment as vesting an individual right to keep and bear arms? I know the Supreme Court is about to consider the Parker v. District of Columbia case. Aside from the legalities: as you personally look at the Second Amendment, do you think thats the right of the state or is that the right of the individual gun owner?
ROMNEY: Its the right of the individual. I believe that our Constitution vests in the citizens of the United States the right to bear arms, to have weapons for their personal protection, for hunting and for any legal and lawful purpose. Id like to see our gun laws enforced, to see people who use guns in the committing of crimes in jail for a long time, but I believe that individuals have the right to bear arms, and any incursion on that right, I would find in violation of the constitutionfind in violation of the constitution.
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.
“In his 1994 US Senate run, Romney backed two gun-control measures strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups: the Brady Bill, which imposed a five-day waiting period on gun sales, and a ban on certain assault weapons.
“That’s not going to make me the hero of the NRA,” Romney told the Boston Herald in 1994.
At another campaign stop that year, he told reporters: “I don’t line up with the NRA.”
“At another campaign stop that year, he told reporters: “I don’t line up with the NRA.”
“And as the GOP gubernatorial candidate in 2002, Romney lauded the state’s strong laws during a debate against Democrat Shannon O’Brien. “We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts; I support them,” he said. “I won’t chip away at them; I believe they protect us and provide for our safety.”