Former Mass. Gov. Romney confirms stance on right to bear arms

BRANDETON HERALD ^ | 12 JANUARY 2007 | AP

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

ORLANDO, Fla. - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney touted his conservative credentials at a gun show Friday, where he met with a GOP-friendly crowd in an effort to garner support for his 2008 campaign.

"I support the right of individuals to keep and bear arms as guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution," said Romney, former governor of Massachusetts.

Romney, who has launched a presidential exploratory committee, appeared at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show with his wife, Ann, and Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association.

Romney spent about an hour walking among the booths and greeting some of the more than 40,000 outdoor enthusiasts, law enforcement officials and industry representatives attending the show, which featured exhibits from major firearms and ammunitions manufacturers.

Romney also took a private phone call from former President George H.W. Bush. He wished Bush a speedy recovery from hip replacement surgery he had last week.

"I can't wait to watch you skydive again," Romney told Bush, referring to Bush's tandem jump in 2004 on his 80th birthday.

Romney described himself as an outdoorsman, but admitted that he was not a firearms expert.

"As a boy, I worked on a ranch in Idaho and shot rabbits with a single shot .22 rifle," Romney said. "After a while my cousin said 'you're not very good at that. Try using this semiautomatic.'"

Romney said he once owned a pistol, but doesn't own any firearms now.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

BUMP

[fantom]

Did someone think he was anti 2nd amendment ?

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Did someone think he was anti 2nd amendment

Lot of FReepers believe he was anti gun.

But his statements made here are as clear as a bell. Notice that Romney doesn't say he "supports the right of hunters to own guns" as most other politicians do. He clearly points out that keep and bear arms are guaranteed under the Constitution.

[Bahbah]

Romney is looking strong. Watch for the BGlobe and the NYT to attack hard. Now that CNN has partnered with a Clinton polling company, we should see some interesting things from them too.

[Little Pig]

If he was that big of a 2nd supporter, he should have pushed the Mass legislature harder to loosen Mass's ridiculous gun laws.

(yeh, yeh, I know: might as well expect him to be able to lift El Capitan. Still, he should have at least publicly tried).

[FastCoyote]

Looks like Bush the Elder is setting us up again. Wasn't the Baker Commission enough?

[DocH]

Romney said he once owned a pistol, but doesn't own any firearms now.

Boy, that really raises MY comfort level concerning this posing RINO.

And then there's his seemingly CONTRIVED statement that his cousin supposedly uttered so many years ago, "Try using this semiautomatic". Sounds like John Kerry's carefully chosen, yet totally fabricated statements he made when trying to get our 'gun vote" last time around.

Now that Mitt's running for office, he talks the talk (while admitting he's no firearms expert), but he doesn't walk the walk. In other words, he doesn't LIVE the 2nd Amendment, so he's no better than John Kerry, and other posing politicians willing to say what they need to say to fool us into voting for them.

Not gonna happen Mitt.

I believe that if the dems are FOR something, then we should be AGAINST it. Likewise, if massatwoshits hyper-liberal voters put Mitt in office, then we should probably forget making him our president.

Ol' Mitt's a little too slick for me to trust. There are better men than him, RINO-Rudy, and mcCain out there,m so let's pick one of THEM.

[Gelato]

Did someone think he was anti 2nd amendment ?

Yeah. I think that had something to do with his support for the Assualt Weapons Ban and the Brady Bill.

[DBrow]

His statements on signing the Massachusetts Assault Weapons ban were very clear. He should specifically address those statements, and his other anti RKBA statements.

He went to a gun show and gave a speech, and Kerry went to a bait shop and said "Kin ah git me a hunting license heah?"

Should I have trusted Kerry, when he made such a statement?

Romney will convince many here who don't know his history- look up his past statements and ask him why he said them.

[streetpreacher]

And he points out "individual" rights as opposed to states or the militia.

[fantom]

Doc , as a former masshole i can tell you he is no gun grabber. Besides that is a group he will really need . Anyway ,the more pressure you put on all of the wannabees , the bigger the issue becomes. Make them all state their views on the second in public and on the record. No matter what else , no pub can win if not totally committed to speech and gun rights. I would be interested in hearing the official position on him by the other gun rights activists, especially Mr. La Pierre..

[P8riot]

Maybe it was his support for the 1994 AWB and the Brady Bill that had everyone thinking he was not pro 2A.

Mitt Romney on the Issues

[Dead Corpse]

What you said...

[El Gato]

If he was that big of a 2nd supporter, he should have pushed the Mass legislature harder to loosen Mass's ridiculous gun laws.

Exactly, words are one thing, actions another. I don't see any actions here, just words.

[DBrow]

loosen Mass's ridiculous gun laws.

Well he did make them drop the requirement that Pardinis and .22 Walthers be dropped on concrete to prove their worthiness (samples only).

But he did say that nobody needs Assault Weapons, they are just designed for hunting and killing people, then signed a ban that requires citizens to get special Class A permits to keep their AR target guns or even .22 S&W model 41's (they were originally sold with a 12 round mag, making them more deadly than other pistols).

But he did nothing for the people there in his 3.2 years (then he started campaigning for the last .8), so it is STILL up to the police chief's discretion whether or not you get to buy a gun or keep one in your home.

[fantom]

He will have to answer for that . Lets make sure that all of these guys records and positions on this are made clear. No bad can come from this .

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Comparing Romney to Kerry is a bit of a stretch, don't you think?

Do you honestly think that Romney, or Rudy for that matter, will come out against the 2nd Amendment? Even possible Democrat presidential contenders are going to embrace the 2nd like it's the last woman on Earth. No Republican is that stupid to support an assault-weapons or any other anti-gun bill or ban as President. He'll be tarred and feathered like the colonists did to the tax collectors.

What's making the 2008 election unique, is that past statements are going to have a negligle impact on the race. Everything is a clean slate now.

[bluetone006]

Screw Romney. Vote for a real conservative who can also win - Duncan Hunter.

[DBrow]

"no pub can win if not totally committed to speech and gun rights."

No, they must merely convince us that they are, that their former statements were, um, not applicable.

It worked in the midterms- all the plans for Iraq the dems had evaporated.

You think that Romney, with his open support of Brady Act and Assault Weapons bans, will appoint someone to SCOTUS who is a staunch RKBA supporter, or put one in as AG?

Or will he put in someone who believes that Assault Weapons are more dangerous than other rifles, who thinks big mags on a $900 .22 target gun are deadly, and a 5 or 15 day wait is OK?

All he has to do is convince people that his history is moot, once he's in office, he'll have at least four years to keep kids safe from AR-15s.