I would have said the same thing but when I saw your post and reflected on what Carson said I had to pause and rethink the entire idea of a litmus test for Conservatives. I have a number of hot key issues as well and maybe that has blinded me and other Conservatives to a more fundamental truth.
So I now ask this question to illustrate my point: does Carson believe Congress should pass gun control legislation or does Carson accept the Second Amendment and believe it should be repealed or some how amended?
I don’t know the answer to that but the difference between the two is completely relevant to how I would identify allies and candidates I would support. If someone favors gun control but accepts the Second Amemdmemt is the law and must be changed to implement gun control, that’s good enough for me. Having the debate within the framework of the law and honesty about what the law says - isn’t that what we should look for?
“.....isn’t that what we should look for?”
Yes.