Posted on 04/05/2007 7:43:42 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
INDIANAPOLIS - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is taking a second shot at describing his hunting experience.
The former Massachusetts governor has called himself a lifelong hunter, yet his campaign acknowledged that he has been on just two hunting trips — one when he was 15 and the other just last year.
Campaigning in Indianapolis on Thursday, Romney said he has hunted small game since his youth.
"I'm not a big-game hunter. I've made that very clear," he said. "I've always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will. I began when I was 15 or so and I have hunted those kinds of varmints since then. More than two times."
In Keene, N.H., on Tuesday, Romney had said: "I purchased a gun when I was a young man. I've been a hunter pretty much all my life." The next day, the campaign said Romney hunted rabbits in Idaho with cousins as a teenager and shot quail with GOP donors at a game preserve in Georgia in 2006.
Campaign spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said Wednesday that Romney wasn't trying to mislead anyone, and he promoted Romney's support of gun-ownership rights.
Romney has also supported gun control. When he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 1994 he backed the Brady law and a ban on assault-style rifles. As governor, he supported the state's strict gun-control laws and signed into law one of the nation's tougher assault weapons laws.
He joined the National Rifle Association last August as a "Lifetime" member.
“So, he’s not perfect, but he’s near the top.” No he is near the bottom. His famous health insurance plain for Mass is now out in the open, many $$$$$. ““The Right to Bear Arms Day” was a stunt, he plays both sides, or as it really stated, Flip / Flop. Mitt is a RINO and a lier. Lier's forget what the said yesterday and must reinvent their position to cover their butt.
And say yes to Duncan Hunter
This clown is reminds me of John Kerry. With candidates like Giuliani, McCain and this goober, the GOP is a pathetic liberal joke.
Reading the liberal dictionary for FMJ
Watch some interviews with Romney on YouTube. I think you’ll change your mind. The more I see of him, the more evident it is that he’s our man. He’s able to convey a positive, articulate, and logical argument better than anyone in the field by a mile. And he’s gotten results.
To be fair, after watching him and the others quite a bit, I’m sold on Romney. Thompson is the only candidate who MIGHT change my mind. But Romney has a spring in his step and an energy I’m not sure Thompson has.
I would have more respect for the guy if he didn’t join the NRA and never mentioned hunting. Very simple. I don’t own any guns other than a BB gun. I’m not into hunting other than plinking squirrels in the backyard. Even though I don’t own guns, but I have no interest whatsoever in taking away anyone elses right to own them, be it for self-defense or hunting. Done, no big deal. I hate when politicians pander, especially when it’s so obvious. Besides, how can he now be an NRA member, yet he signed bills restricting guns?
Me either, and politicians who start explaining their hunting stance when asked about 2A and RKBA have no clue of what it means. When they think “gun owner” the word “hunter” pops up.
Most who think 2A has something to do with hunting or claybusting support reasonable, common-sense gun safety regulations and dislike loopholes.
Romney wants an assault weapon ban, has said so, has signed one in Massachusetts, yet feels he needs the support of gun owners, hence these attempts at looking like a hunter to get our support, money, and votes so he can implement his reasonable restrictions at the Federal level.
I consider snakes to be an unwanted varmint. Luckily our neighbor’s cat feels the same way and she kills any she finds in their yard and ours.
Stephanopoulos: Let’s talk about guns. You were supportive of the Brady bill, the handgun waiting period, in the past. You signed an assault weapon ban into law and you said, in the past, “I don’t line up with the NRA.”
Now, you…
Mitt Romney: Well, on that issue.
Stephanopoulos: Now you’re a member of the NRA.
Mitt Romney: Yes, and I know the NRA does not support an assault weapon ban. So I don’t line up on that particular issue with the NRA, either does President Bush. He likewise says he supported an assault weapon ban.
Today we don’t have the Brady bill because we have instantaneous background checks. That’s no longer a operative or needed measure. [so please don’t diss me for supporting it...]
But I’m a strong proponent of Second Amendment rights. I believe people, under our Constitution, have the right to bear arms. [Just not “assault weapons” whatever they are]
We have a gun in one of our homes. It’s not owned by me, it’s owned by my son, but I’ve always considered it sort of mine. [which is why I said I was a gun owner a month or so ago, but I’m really not]
Stephanopoulos: When did you join the NRA?
Mitt Romney: Within the last year and I signed up for a lifelong membership. I think they’re doing good things and I believe in supporting the right to bear arms. [except “assault weapons” whatever they are]
I’ve been a hunter all my life, not frequently, but as a boy, when I worked on a ranch in Idaho, we used to go out shooting rabbits, because they were eating all the barley, and I got pretty good with a single shot .22 rifle, and been quail hunting more recently*. [But now I claim not to be good with a single-shot. It took the power and deadliness of a semi-auto to get those rabbits!]
So I’m a hunter and believe in Second Amendment rights, but I also believe that assault weapons are not needed in the public population.
[end transcript]
Maybe he does not know that some “assault weapons” are used by hunters and skeet/trap shooters. He hasn’t a clue what “assault weapons” are, though he yearns to ban them.
They’ve got it made. Spend the morning sleeping in the sun on the loveseat on the landing , eat, chase feather toys for a while in the hall in the afternoon, eat, spend the rest of the afternoon sleeping on the dog bed in the hall, eat, and so it goes sleep, play, eat What a life! :)
Remember, he issued “Gay Youth Pride Day” proclamations in 2003 and 2004. If he believes in RKBA based on his GOAL proclamation, what can you say about his support for LGBTQ youth issues and Gay-Straight Alliance clubs in junior high?
Most “proclamations” are written by the group the proclamation is for. It’s in several activist handbooks as the best way to get a proclamation or Day of The _____. Gov’s and lawmakers, when given a proclamation that supports some group or event, will sign on (they are either busy with other stuff or lazy). It does not mean support for the group or event if they sign the proclamation, so I’m not suggesting Romney supports gay youth pride events any more than he supports the right to own an “assault rifle”.
I’ve never signed an “assault weapons” ban either, so I don’t have that mistake to live down.
Mitt does not think it’s a mistake. See my post of Mitt’s talk with Steffi on Feb 18.
This is the only varmint hunter I know of.
Is that from the debate that is on video somewhere? I’ll add it to a card as soon as I can get a date on it.
You’ve got a good point there. I’ll surely keep it in mind. Thanks.
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