“We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts; I support them. I won’t chip away at them; I believe they protect us and provide for our safety.”
Mitt Romney, 2002
Oh, sure, he got the endorsement of the NRA. Sure, he bought a life membership. Sure, he got the endorsement of Big Bad Gun Boy Ted Nugent. But, let’s look at his record and past statements….on the flip.
During his 2002 gubernatorial campaign, Romney had been a supporter of the federal assault weapons ban, and had also said he believed “in the rights of those who hunt to responsibly own and use firearms.” On July 1, 2004, Romney signed a permanent state ban on assault weapons, saying at the signing ceremony for the new law, “Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts. These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people.” The law extended a temporary measure that had been in effect since 1998 and covered weapons such as the AK-47, Uzi, and MAC-10. The same law also modified some other aspects of general firearms licensing regulations.
So, in other words, in Mitt’s world, guns are only for hunting and those that look scary enough should be banned because you’re too irresponsible to be trusted with them.
Also, as governor of Massachusetts, Romney substantially increased hunting licensing fees as well as the fees required to obtain a Massacusetts FID, the card that in that state you have to have to possess any firearm at all: the card that registers you with the government as a person that owns a gun.
Get that? As governor of Massachusetts, “severe conservative” Mitt Romney not only allowed the FID card to continue to exist, he made it more expensive to get one.
While in Massachusetts, I refused to comply with that law. Had I done my homework and known that law existed, I probably would never have moved there.
Governor Romney has a solid record of pursuing gun control measures to control crime and increase safety. He is vocally supportive of the assault weapons ban, supported a waiting period, and supports registration. While Governor he continued Massachusetts’s history of gun control advocacy.
In 2002, Mitt Romney stated in a debate that he supported the tough gun laws in Massachusetts and that he believed they help protect us and keep us safe. He vowed not to chip away at those laws…Governor Romney has been supportive of the second amendment in the general sense while campaigning for the Presidency in 2012, but continued to support an assault weapons ban in the 2008 elections. Since that time, he has stated that he does not believe that the nation wide assault weapons ban should be re-instituted.
He does not address the issue on his 2012 campaign website.
Doesn’t sound to me like someone the NRA or Ted Nugent would be endorsing….unless, of course, he’s running against the black liberal with the funny name.
Handy dandy flier to be distributed to your favorite gun rights supporters:
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