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Presidential Candidates Split As Supreme Court Hears Landmark Gun Case
From The Washington Times:
McCain spokesman Randy Scheunemann said the senator thinks the D.C. gun ban is "clearly unconstitutional" and that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to bear arms.
Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, said Mr. Obama "believes the Second Amendment creates an individual right, and he greatly respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms.
"He also believes that the Constitution permits state and local governments to adopt reasonable and common-sense gun safety measures," she said, but would not elaborate on the whether the senator supports the D.C. gun ban.
The campaign of Mr. Obama's Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the Heller case.
I wasn't sure that McCain was the best GOP candidate, and I'm still not, but at least he stood up and spoke out with a solid answer.
Obama answer - Wishy washy at best with no "solid" statement!
Clinton answer - NONE?! Probably figured HER answer would somehow jeopardize what little chance she has left to be queen bee!
Bubba
Posted by: Bubba | March 18, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Hey Bubba
This is typical. I recently learned that U.S. Senators actually can vote three different ways on a bill. They can vote Aye if in favor, Nay if the they're against, and present if the issue is too hot to make a stand. BHO has voted present in 130 issues. HRC is smart enough not to show up. All in all, its really scary that either wants to be POTUS.
YooperJack
Posted by: YooperJack | March 18, 2008 at 12:26 PM
I have to agree with Bubba. McCain's was a solid reply. Obama's was doublespeak. HRC is obviously dodging the issue.
Posted by: Mike Diehl | March 18, 2008 at 01:44 PM
Banning guns is a violation of the second amendament. What is there not to get about that?
Nate
Posted by: I'm in school right now | March 18, 2008 at 02:26 PM
hillary wouldnt support the 2nd ammendment if bill's political life waas in jeopardy, obama, wishy washy, i support but i restrict, bt what restrictions are reasonable, ny style where no one gets a carry permit unless politically connected, aka the trumpster. mc cain well at least he supported something but his record is not sterling but his barrel of fish doesnt smell as bad as the other two. blomberg is just anti second amendment period no matter what he says
Posted by: r napolitano | March 18, 2008 at 02:39 PM
Hillary is anti-gun because her stare is deadly enough and she can't understand why the rest of us need more. I write that as a Democrat.
Posted by: Gman | March 18, 2008 at 04:13 PM
I don't know which would be worse. Both Barack and Hillary are so liberal that we as sportsmen can only lose. Today, with this SCOTUS hearing in the news, I'm really glad I voted for GWB.
YooperJack
Posted by: YooperJack | March 18, 2008 at 06:09 PM
BO supports an individual right, that is a long way and sort of brave for someone who started in State politics in an urban district. He is definitely hedging on the restrictions part. Most likely, waiting for SCOTUS to set the parameters and then he will probably be a bit left of them.
Probably doesn't think he has much to gain by being ahead of SCOTUS ruling. Clinton is just a coward.
Of course McCain supports, but what does he think of the back-stab DOJ position? That is the question Republicans should have to answer.
Posted by: Patrick | March 18, 2008 at 09:47 PM
Good point Patrick, that last one.
Posted by: John R | March 18, 2008 at 11:40 PM
McCain's answer is straightforward alright--straightforward pandering. He has given us no reason to believe he will be a strong supporter of the 2nd. And those of you so proud to have voted for that disaster of a president GWB (and I'm a republican mind you), if you look as his stance on the topic and Obama's, they read just about exactly the same. They both say they support the amendment with reasonable restrictions.
Posted by: Frank | March 19, 2008 at 08:38 AM
Frank:
If you really feel that way, you will have a choice pretty soon. You will probably have Barack Obama. That will be just fine. He has the most liberal voting record in the Senate. To me, that's amazing because he has voted "Present" on about 130 different occasions. I'm sure he'll appoint judges who have 2A in mind. Maybe Hillary will become the nominee. We know that she's much in favor of handguns. She's never any more than 10 feet from someone whose carrying. Also, she didn't make any negative comments about the case yesterday. She didn't say anything, but she didn't say anything bad. Still not happy? There's always Ralph Nader.
YooperJack
Posted by: YooperJack | March 19, 2008 at 09:16 AM
Shrub is no ally of gun owners or sportsmen. That guy would let a dog piss on the constitution and then he'd sell the photographs if he thought it would enhance his power with the right kind of people.
Posted by: Mike Diehl | March 19, 2008 at 12:36 PM
I see that several people have taken interest in Obama's voting history, good or bad. It is true that he votes present to not paint himself into a corner but he also has a very extensive history of voting and introducing new bills into legislature that are mostly practical and well formulated. If you look into Hillary's voting record the only thing she has a strong history of voting on is naming post offices and other government buildings after people I've never heard of before. I get the feeling that Hillary's style is to ride bureacratic inertia. She's so caught up in red tape I don't think she will make the decisions that a president has to make. Inaction is worse to me than making a wrong decision. As for McCain I don't know a thing about his voting record and it's something that doesn't get much publicity.
Posted by: William | March 21, 2008 at 03:16 AM
As far as I'm concerned, if Obama's our next POTUS, we're screwed. He's been compared to Jimmy Carter, He's voted "Present" 130 times in the Senate because he won't expose himself to a controversial position. Now we find out that he belongs to a church that blames white people for all of the current problems that blacks are facing, and blames America for 9/11/01. We hear Michelle Obama ranting about how bad our country is. Now we don't have to wonder why his freinds in the Senate call him "Osama Obama" I'm going to write a lot in the near future because if BHO is elected, he'll find a way to eliminate 1A along with 2A.
YooperJack
Posted by: YooperJack | March 21, 2008 at 08:25 AM