History Forum / General / British History / June 2008

No Surprises Here...

Preeminently Predictable....

McCain Is A Straight Shooter...

Whereas Obama Waffles.

DSH

Lux et Veritas et Libertas
-----------------------------------------------------------

McCain backs gun decision, Obama straddles issue

Jun 26, 2008

By LIZ SIDOTI

WASHINGTON (AP) - John McCain welcomed a Supreme Court decision
invalidating a District of Columbia handgun ban. Barack Obama sought to
straddle the subject by saying he favors an individual's right to bear
firearms as well as a government's right to regulate them.

Yep... Trying to be on BOTH sides of the issue. -- DSH

The hotly contentious issue surfaced in the presidential campaign Thursday
after the Supreme Court ruled that Americans have a constitutional right to
own guns and struck down the city's thirty-two-year-old ban.

McCain, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, heralded the
justices' action as "a landmark victory for Second Amendment freedom."

Voicing a stance that could help him woo conservatives and libertarians,
McCain said, "This ruling does not mark the end of our struggle against
those who seek to limit the rights of law-abiding citizens. We must always
remain vigilant in defense of our freedoms."

His Democratic rival, Obama, issued a more carefully worded statement
apparently aimed at both moderate voters and his liberal base. The statement
from Obama, who has long said local governments should be able to regulate
guns, did not specifically say whether Obama agreed with overturning the
specific D.C. ban. But he said Thursday's ruling "will provide much-needed
guidance to local jurisdictions across the country."

"I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of
individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need for
crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that
plagues our streets through commonsense, effective safety measures," Obama
said.

Obama said his view was supported by the court's ruling that the
Constitution does not permit "the absolute prohibition of handguns." That
language "reinforces that if we act responsibly, we can both protect the
constitutional right to bear arms and keep our communities and our children
safe," Obama said.

Both presidential candidates endorse an individual's right to bear arms. But
they strongly differ beyond that. McCain has had a mostly conservative
record on the issue; Obama, a mostly liberal record.

Other than a few departures, McCain is largely in line with the National
Rifle Association's hardline support for gun rights. He voted against a ban
on assault-style weapons and for shielding gun-makers and dealers from civil
damage suits. But he broke with the NRA to favor requiring background checks
at gun shows and has taken heat for pushing through campaign finance
legislation that gun-rights advocates say muzzled their free speech.

Obama has voted to leave gun-makers and dealers open to lawsuits. He also
took largely liberal positions on gun laws while in the Illinois
Legislature, including backing a ban on all forms of semiautomatic weapons
and tighter state restrictions generally on firearms.

Campaigning in Cincinnati, McCain claimed Obama has reversed course on the
issue. Obama told FOX Business Network he's been consistent.

Hilarious!  CONSISTENTLY WAFFLING. -- DSH

The Democrat's campaign said a spokesman made an "inartful" statement when
he said in November that Obama believed the D.C. law was constitutional. But
Obama himself did not correct a debate moderator who repeated the position
in February.

"You said in Idaho recently, I'm quoting here, 'I have no intention of
taking away folks' guns.' But you support the D.C. handgun ban and you've
said that it's constitutional," said the moderator, Leon Harris of
Washington television station WJLA. Obama nodded as Harris spoke and said:
"Right, right."

"How can you reconcile those two different positions?" Harris asked.

Obama answered that the United States has conflicting traditions of gun
ownership and street violence that results from illegal handgun use. "So,
there is nothing wrong, I think, with a community saying we are going to
take those illegal handguns off the streets," Obama said.

The Obama campaign argued that Obama was simply acknowledging the question
by saying "right."

DODGE... -- DSH

In other instances, Obama refused to articulate a position when asked
whether he thought the D.C. ban was constitutional.

The campaign would not answer directly Thursday when asked whether the
candidate agreed with the court that the D.C. ban was unconstitutional,
simply pointing back to his statement.