Factchecking Obama's claims on guns

There's been a lot of fact-checking going around about Obama's positions on gun issues. First he was against them, then he was still against them, then he still was against them, then gun owners were bitter and clingy, then he supported the DC ban, then the Supreme Court struck it down, and finally he supported the Supreme Court... except that he would appoint judges in the mold of those who voted to uphold DC's ban, and then the Brady Campaign to Ban Guns endorsed him...

Confused yet? That's exactly where Obama wants you. He wants people who like guns to think he's for gun ownership and the 2nd Amendment, and he wants people who hate guns to think he hates them too -- so long as they are quiet about it and don't interfere with the election.

So one way to find out is to ask people who have met him and talked to him about the issue. Let's ask John Lott:

I knew Obama during the mid-1990s, when we were both at the University of Chicago Law School. Indeed, when I introduced myself to him, he said, "Oh, you are the gun guy."
I responded, "Yes, I guess so." His response, as I recall it, was, "I don't believe that people should be able to own guns."
When I said it might be fun sometime to talk about the question and his support of Chicago's lawsuit against gunmakers, he simply grimaced and turned away, ending the conversation.

Well, that wasn't very helpful to Obama's case for supporting gun rights. How about someone who lobbied Obama on gun issues while he was in the Illinois legislature?

Hello, my name is Rich Pearson and I have been active in the firearm rights movement for over 40 years. For the past 15 years, I have served in the Illinois state capitol as the chief lobbyist for the Illinois State Rifle Association.

I lobbied Barack Obama extensively while he was an Illinois State Senator. As a result of that experience, I know Obama's attitudes toward guns and gun owners better than anyone. The truth be told, in all my years in the Capitol I have never met a legislator who harbors more contempt for the law-abiding firearm owner than does Barack Obama.

Although Obama claims to be an advocate for the 2nd Amendment, his voting record in the Illinois Senate paints a very different picture. While a state senator, Obama voted for a bill that would ban nearly every hunting rifle, shotgun and target rifle owned by Illinois citizens. That same bill would authorize the state police to raid homes of gun owners to forcibly confiscate banned guns. Obama supported a bill that would shut down law-abiding firearm manufacturers including Springfield Armory, Armalite, Rock River Arms and Les Baer. Obama also voted for a bill that would prohibit law-abiding citizens from purchasing more than one gun per month.

Without a doubt, Barack Obama has proven himself to be an enemy of the law abiding firearm owner. At the same time, Obama has proven himself to be a friend to the hardened criminal. While a state senator, Obama voted 4 times against legislation that would allow a homeowner to use a firearm in defense of home and family.

Read the whole thing.

This entry was published Thu Oct 16 11:53:13 CDT 2008 by TriggerFinger and last updated 2008-10-16 11:53:13.0. [Tweet]

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