Miami Herald has an analysis of where the 2008 presidential candidates stand on gun control. FYI – gun control is a big issue in Northwest Florida. State Senator Durell Peaden has sponsored nearly every pro-NRA gun bill possible in the state legislature. When Charlie Crist was running for governor last year, campaign staffers got firearms training so they could work the gun-show crowds around the state. The one poll the IN did on gun control got more responses than any other in our three year history of polling readers.
Mitt Romney: As governor of Massachusetts, Romney signed a law that permanently banned assault weapons. But as he geared up for his presidential bid last year, Romney joined the NRA. He described himself as a lifelong hunter, though he later admitted he had gone only twice.
Rudi Guilianni: As mayor of New York City, he pushed for gun licenses, trigger locks and a far-reaching lawsuit against two dozen gun manufacturers. His presidential website now says: “Rudy understands that what works in New York doesn’t necessarily work in Mississippi or Montana.”
John McCain: Opposed the Brady bill that outlawed certain assault weapons and required a waiting period for handgun buyers. The Arizona senator has also voted to protect the gun industry from civil lawsuits.
Hillary Clinton made gun control a key issue of her 2000 Senate campaign but made no similar call after Virginia Tech.
Sen. Barack Obama said in a radio interview that he supports making it tougher for the mentally ill to own guns, but added, “I’m respectful of people who want to hunt or sportsmen, somebody who night want to have a gun in the house to protect their home.”
John Edwards backed his party’s gun-control efforts when he represented North Carolina in the Senate, but his campaign, too, distanced itself from calls for reform.