Anyone with a tactical background knows the importance of carrying a reliable firearm. But politicians are always in a hurry to ban them after a mass shooting or terrorist attack. As if the answer to such an outbreak of violence is to deny our citizens the right to protect themselves against such an attack.
In October, it was more of the same when House Democrats started pushing legislation to ban assault weapons and assault weapon accessories. By November, Massachusetts had become the first state to pass such a bill.
It’s hardly surprising to those of us who weren’t born yesterday. Liberals have been staunch gun control advocates for as long as anyone is likely to remember. But it’s not just the Left that would have you robbed of your right to customize AR-15 rifles with common scopes and accessories.
And, more surprisingly, it’s not just the Right who like guns.
The following are some of the greatest examples of politicians who have said one thing about guns only to do another. I think you’ll agree that their words and actions are more than a little contradictory.
George W. Bush
Despite his image as a gun-toting good ole boy, George W. Bush promised he would sign a renewal of the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 if it ever came across his desk. Not only did the ban supposedly have his support but Bush also espoused background checks and trigger locks during his 2000 and 2004 debates.
This runs counter to Bush’s own experience with guns. In his book Courage and Consequence, Karl Rove recounts the time Dubya took down a protected bird species and was forced to pay a $130 fine.
And despite calling for background checks and trigger locks, Bush advocated for concealed carry laws.
(Source: The Economist, “Issues 2000” special , Sep 30, 2000)
Hillary Rodham Clinton
The former First Lady once portrayed herself as a pro-gun churchgoer, only to turn around a few years later and attack her then-opponent Bernie Sanders for being too “soft” on guns.
When running for President, Clinton vowed to expand background checks, take on the gun lobby and keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. And, yet, WikiLeaks would go on to release e-mails revealing that she was involved in gun running operations to terrorists, funneling weapons from Libya to terror groups in Syria, during her time as Secretary of State.
Mitt Romney
The former Republican presidential nominee has been all over the place when it comes to gun legislation. When he was running for the oval, Mitt admonished the NRA about the implications of Obama serving a second term, but Romney’s relationship with the NRA hadn’t always been so hot.
When he was running for Senate and governorship of Massachusetts, Mitt made enemies of the NRA after limiting the use of assault weapons and publicly smearing their brand. At a campaign stop in 1994, he said, “I don’t line up with the NRA.”
In August of 2006, Romney signed up for a lifetime NRA membership by September of 2007, he was quoted as saying, “I support the Second Amendment as one of the most basic and fundamental rights of every American.”
By December, he had gone one step further, saying, “When it comes to protecting the Second Amendment, I do not support any new gun laws including any new ban on semiautomatic firearms.”
John Kerry
If ever there was a presidential candidate whose name is synonymous with “flip-flopping,” it would be this Massachusetts Democrat. Among his cavalcade of flip-flops guns stand out as a sore thumb thanks to his choice of photo-ops.
At CNN’s 2003 Rock The Vote Democratic Debate, Kerry said, “I don’t think the Democratic Party should be the candidacy of the NRA. And when I was fighting to ban assault weapons in 1992 and 1993, [Howard] Dean was appealing to the NRA for their endorsement, and he got it.
He added, “I believe it’s important for us to have somebody who is going to stand up for gun safety in America and make certain that we make our streets safe, our children safe, and not allow people to get assault weapons in America.”
One year later, he’d be posing in camouflage and brandishing a 12-gauge double-barreled shotgun to try and improve his public image.
Closing thoughts
There you have it. These are just the biggest names in the flip-floppin’ game. Your Senators, your Congressmen, plenty of them have been guilty of doing it too. But these are simply the most staggering examples of, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
