The Associated Press reports that gun control is playing a complicated role in the 2008 campaign.
John McCain supports background checks for buyers at gun shows and has his name on a law restricting special-interest group advertising, two positions strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association.
So how’d he end up with the group’s presidential endorsement? By running against Barack Obama, whom NRA leaders accuse of wanting to put the firearms industry out of business.
“Hillary was right: You can’t trust Obama with your guns,” the association’s Political Victory Fund said in a recent mailing.
For voters who care about the issue, the most unambiguous record belongs not to McCain, but his running mate.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is not only a gun owner and an NRA member, but a proud hunter who is unapologetic about supporting aerial wolf hunting.
From there, things get kind of gray.
Obama’s running rate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, favors gun control but is a gun owner himself — he has three shotguns.
Neither McCain nor Obama owns a gun.
