Ed Pilkington
London Guardian
April 14, 2012
Mitt Romney sought to win over the arch-conservative membership of the National Rifle Association by promising to be the protector of American freedoms and accusing President Obama of launching a stealth attack on the constitutional right to bear arms.
Addressing the NRA’s annual convention in St Louis, Missouri, Romney tried to assuage doubts about his commitment to America’s love affair with the gun by peppering his speech with references to the US constitution and liberal use of the word “freedom”.
He also adopted the NRA’s own language by warning that were Obama granted a second term in the White House he would unleash an assault on gun ownership rights in the US. That is precisely the NRA’s lobbying argument, despite the fact that Obama has steered almost entirely clear of the gun issue in the past three years to the disappointment of gun control advocates.
“In his second term, [Obama] would be unrestrained by the terms of re-election,” Romney said. “Who will stand up for the rights of hunters and sportsmen, and those who act to protect their families? President Obama has not. I will.”
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