Obama and guns, part 2,976

Another couple of op-eds on Obama's anti-gun stance.

From John Lott, writing in the Washington Times:

Yet, Mr. Obama personally voiced support for the D.C. ban at other times. In February, he did this himself, not something that he could blame on a staffer.

ABC New's local Washington, D.C. anchor, Leon Harris, asked Mr. Obama: "One other issue that's of great importance here in the district as well is gun control ... but you support the D.C. handgun ban." Mr. Obama's simple response: "Right." When Mr. Harris said "And you've said that it's constitutional," Mr. Obama again says "right" and is clearly seen on tape nodding his head "yes."

But this is not new. Mr. Obama has a long history of supporting city gun bans. The Associated Press described his 2004 vote on a gun control bill: "He also opposed letting people use a self-defense argument if charged with violating local handgun bans by using weapons in their homes. The bill was a reaction to a Chicago-area man who, after shooting an intruder, was charged with a handgun violation."

A candidate questionnaire shows that Mr. Obama supported a ban on handguns in 1996. In 1998, he backed a ban on the sale of all semiautomatic guns (a ban that would encompass the vast majority of guns sold in the U.S.) In 2004, he advocated banning gun sales within five miles of a school or park (essentially a ban on all guns sold in almost all the states). Possibly, even more importantly, he served on the board of the Joyce Foundation, probably the largest private funder of anti-gun and pro-ban groups and research in the country.

The Obama campaign "flatly denied" the 1996 statement supporting a ban on handguns, blaming it instead on a staffer from his state senate race who they said had incorrectly filled out the candidate questionnaire. But the Politico obtained a copy of the statement and found Mr. Obama's own handwritten notes on it indicating that he had personally checked and corrected answers.

From former U.S. Senator Conrad Burns, writing in the Great Falls, MT, Tribune:

On gun owner's rights, Sen. Obama's record clearly shows he is one of the most anti-gun candidates to ever run for president.

Today as Obama takes aim for the White House, he'll tell voters he has never favored an all-out ban on handguns. Yet, while in the Illinois Legislature he endorsed a state ban on the sale and possession of handguns in that state, he favored denying gun ownership to anyone under age 21, and he supported banning ammunition sales.

Obama has explicitly stated he views the Washington, D.C., handgun ban as consistent with the Second Amendment's right for the individual to keep and bear arms, saying "just because you have an individual right does not mean that the state or local government can't constrain the exercise of that right." But just how constraining is a total ban?

And who can forget the now famous Obama gaffe likening poor rural folks as people who cling to religion and guns. Obama said to an audience in San Francisco: "They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

What a pungent pill Obama must swallow every time he sees the NRA bumper sticker, "Bitter gun owners vote too!"

Sadly, Senator Obama is so virulently anti-gun that it's almost tedious documenting his total lack of respect for Second Amendment rights. But if he is elected, expect more sweeping new gun control infringements, especially with an anti-gun Democrat-controlled Congress.