Mitt Romney and the 2nd Amendment

From Mitt Romney's website

We need this guy in 2008



Romney's right on Second Amendment
March 12, 2007, 4:52 pm
Posted by ifennell in General
Rating: 0/5 Votes : 0
By U.S. Sen. Larry Craig

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has announced his candidacy for president, and I support him because he is someone who has a record of standing up for the rights of ordinary Americans ? people who are starting a business, looking for a job, building a family, and enjoying the freedoms guaranteed to them by the U.S. Constitution.
Those freedoms are under constant attack, and perhaps none is more threatened than the rights guaranteed to us by the Second Amendment: The right to bear arms.
Romney understands that this right can be abridged in multiple ways ? gun laws can be written poorly, giving desk-based bureaucrats the ability to take away a gun license from a law-abiding individual.
Gun laws can be applied indiscriminately, forcing sportsmen to become gun law experts when they head out into the field. Gun laws drafted by people who have never held a firearm but are beholden to the anti-gun lobby can impinge on the enjoyment ordinary Americans have in visiting a gun range or enjoying America's natural beauty.
How do I know Romney understands these things? Because I've studied his record ? and it's impressive. As governor, he took real, meaningful steps to affirm our right to bear arms.
Romney has shown that he is willing to confront the jumble of state gun laws in Boston ? and if he can do that with an 85 percent Democratic legislature in one of the most liberal states in the country, think what he could do in Washington with a more supportive base in Congress.
In 2004, Romney signed a sweeping reform of Massachusetts' gun laws that made the state's gun laws far less onerous for sportsmen. He established a firearm license review board to review cases of those applying to have their licenses restore, so that a single bureaucrat no longer could determine whether someone was fit to carry a firearm. He extended the term of firearm licenses from four to six years. He reinstated a 90-day grace period for citizens renewing their gun licenses, and later signed a law providing free replacement licenses.
And then in 2005, Romney supported and signed into law legislation that clarified the definition of a loaded muzzleloader, so that hunters would understand exactly the safety precautions expected of them.
Previously, if a hunter encountered a public right of way, he or she had to clean their barrel, rather than simply remove the priming device. Now, ambiguous regulations won't trip up law-abiding gun owners.
Of course, most people who have never held a firearm in their hands have no idea why these steps are important, but everyone understands that gun laws should promote safety and security ? not confusion.
Romney, himself a member of the National Rife Association and someone comfortable using a gun, certainly appreciates what America's hunters and sportsmen are up against in our state and federal gun laws.
As someone who spends considerable time in Utah, he knows sportsmen and hunters, and he understands our concerns. He knows that the gun laws drafted in many state capitals and in Washington, D.C. do nothing to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, and only serve to make life harder for honest, law-abiding citizens.
And as governor, he has made his sentiments clear for all to see.
In 2005, Romney declared the 31st anniversary of the Gun Owners' Action League "Right to Bear Arms" Day in the Commonwealth ? a pleasant change of pace from most liberal states, where hunters and sportsmen are made to feel like outcasts, even though they support through fees and their participation a significant amount of rural land preservation.
Fact is, if Romney just talked about his support for the Second Amendment and the rights of gun owners, that would be welcome. But Romney has been doing more than talking ? he has been taking action for several years, and his approach would be a welcome addition to the gun debates in Washington, D.C.


U.S. Sen. Larry Craig is an Idaho Republican.