In case you missed it, the Miami Herald enumerates major presidential candidates’ stances on the issue of Second Amendment rights (Hat Tip to NRA-ILA). Some of the responses surprised me. Here’s my views on the Second Amendment positions taken by these candidates:
Acceptable:
Barack Obama – perhaps this is the ONLY view Obama has that is acceptable
Bill Richardson – if Democrats are to be accepted in the wild west, they approve of guns
Sam Brownback – consistently agrees with NRA positions
Jim Gilmore – tough on criminals but needs to be a bit tougher
Mike Huckabee – supports concealed-carry and most other sane positions
Duncan Hunter – widely supported by NRA-types
John McCain – a Second Amendment supporter but has other ‘issues’
Ron Paul – consistently agrees with NRA positions
Tom Tancredo – right on guns and border enforcement
No Clear Position:
Mike Gravel – (Who?)
Mitt Romney – seems to mostly be at odds with weapon owners rights
Tommy Thompson – no clear signals of support for owners, but supports penalizing gun violence
Unacceptable:
Joe Biden – blames the gun, it’s makers and does not blame gun-using criminals
Hillary Clinton – historically an enemy of Second Amendment rights
Chris Dodd – incoherently opposes guns or something like that
John Edwards – based on senate record, not on grandstanding VT shootings remarks
Dennis Kucinich – What can a Hobbit know about guns to oppose them altogether?
Rudy Giuliani – falls in lockstep with gun-grabbers
See below for a complete rundown on candidates’ positions:
