The chances of Ron Paul winning the Presidency reside somewhere between slim and none...and much, much closer to the none side, it is simply the way things are. It seems you love the guy, many Paulistas do. However, YOUR list that I quoted above is nothing more than rhetoric. Its like a "Dirty Harry" Reid list...throw out the accusations without support and say that the accused has to defend themselves against it...to highlight why it seems that way, I'll say this: I read an analysis on the gun laws bill that Mitt Romney signed while Governor of Massachusetts. The bill was going through WITH OR WITHOUT him, it was only a matter of the exact language contained within the bill that became law that would be the difference...they had enough votes in the overwhelmingly Democrat-controlled legislature to over-ride any veto. What he did, by signing it, was to get CONCESSIONS from the hard-core leftists running that state, concessions that EASED the restrictions that would have been MUCH worse had it been vetoed and then passed with an over-ride. I don't claim to be an expert on the gun laws in Mass...maybe you are, if so, I'll defer to you if you know their code that well and can quote it. But it seems you are coming on here with an attitude of all-or-none political scorched earth...well, YOU play that game, fine. I'd rather see President Romney in office, things start getting better and be able to breath a little easier for a change. I'll take four or eight years of any Republican in office, backed by a solid majority Republican House and Senate, doing their best to keep things running and hopefully paring back some of the excess...I'll take that any day over the chaos that a systemic collapse would cause and that I feel will happen EVENTUALLY if this current administration is given the chance to keep going like they have been. I'm guessing you'll have some snappy comeback to this, that's fine. I'm not changing your mind and you aren't changing mine.
A Romney/Ryan win = NObama, 2012. And that IS what I care about.[/quote]
I am not an expert on MA gun restrictions, but I did live under them from 2008 - 2010 as I was attending graduate school. A couple of things I experienced living in the People's Democratic Republic of Massachusetts:
-You have to register all weapons with the state... not just purchases, ALL weapons.
-You cannot bring your weapons into the state if you move there until you have a Mass License To Carry; a process which takes over $400 and 9 months (on average) to complete.
-All Clinton Ban rules remain in effect (10 rd magazine limit, evil features ban) on all new purchases.
-You cannot legally possess more than 10,000 rds of centerfire ammunition (or components for those who reload), 10,000 rds of rimfire, and 1000 shotgun shells... period.
-You may not purchase more than one firearm per calendar month.
-The License To Carry is required to possess any firearm, not just to allow you to carry one; and that whole carry part is heavily restricted by local law enforcement (so, essentially, I had a LTC with a restriction saying I was not allowed to carry).
-Firearms were to be kept under lock in the home, and separate from the ammunition (also under lock).
-If an intruder were to break in, and my wife were to justifiably shoot an intruder, but did not have her own LTC, she would be guilty of a felony possession charge (unless I, as an LTC holder was specifically supervising her use of the weapon). Of course, this is all under the assumption she could access the separately locked up (or disassembled) weapon and ammunition in time to save her life.
-I had a duty to retreat, even on my own property.
-Oh, that LTC I needed, yeah... I needed that to possess OC (pepper) spray too.
-MA has a list of approved weapons, and Kel Tek, Knights Armament, and HK aren't on their list... any of their stuff, as well as many other common models, including the Springfield XD (with a palm swell, and trigger safety... because the MA Sec State had deemed it not safe.
All of this was part of the 2004 Public Safety law Romney not only signed, but advocated.
As far as that concession is concerned. He increased the term that the License to Carry is valid: from 3 to 5 yrs. Oh, but the cost increased from $25 to $100 for the license. I'll leave you with this quote from his statewide Gun Ban campaign.
“Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts.These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people.”
On his 2002, gubernatorial campaign website, Romney declared his support for "the strict enforcement of gun laws" as well as "the federal assault weapons ban." The website covered all bases, noting that "Mitt also believes in the rights of those who hunt to responsibly own and use firearms." But the campaign left the impression that Romney appreciated Massachusetts' famously tight gun laws. "I won't chip away at them," he said. "I believe they protect us and provide for our safety." (
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/1 ... 22258.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)
"I believe the people should have the right to bear arms, but I don't believe that we have to have assault weapons as part of our personal arsenal," Romney told Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes during an August 2004 taping of their Fox News show. (
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/1 ... 22258.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)
I don't care what he says now as he courts us gun owners. I care about what he's done. His record... and it aint impressive.
Is Romney not a complete socialist like Obama? Maybe not (and I stress "maybe"). But if you care about your gun rights, I cannot fathom how you could possibly be excited about Romney.
Just sayin'...