President Barack Obama insists he favors the Second Amendment. Yet, during his debate against challenger Mitt Romney last week, he admitted that if he wins a second term, he hopes to push new firearms limits through Congress.
Romney, on the other hand, made it clear he does not support new restrictions on the types of guns Americans can own.
Like so many liberals who insist they back the right to keep and bear arms but want severe limits on it, Obama demonstrated during the debate that he doesn't really understand guns.
He said he wants to get "automatic weapons that kill folks in amazing numbers out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill" because they "are weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters (that) don't belong on our streets."
In fact, fully automatic weapons - machine guns - already are regulated strictly. They cannot be manufactured for sale in the U.S., and only those with expensive, special licenses can possess those that do exist.
The issue is not that new laws are needed, but rather that existing regulations are enforced.
But we are not surprised by Obama's statement. Remember that before Obama was elected, he commented of working-class Americans that, when facing adversity, "they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion ..."
Obama has telegraphed his planned punch against the Second Amendment if he is re-elected. Voters who support the right to keep and bear arms should remember that.