And Friday, McCain delivered a full-throated defense of the right to bear arms.
"For more than two decades, I've opposed efforts to ban guns, ban ammunition, ban magazines and dismiss gun owners as some kind of fringe group unwelcome in modern America," he said. "The 2nd Amendment isn't some archaic custom that matters only to rural Americans, who find solace in firearms out of frustration with their economic circumstances." To the delight of the crowd, McCain repeatedly attacked Obama for his comment that embittered Americans "cling" to guns. "Sen. Obama hopes he can get away with having it both ways," McCain said, mocking the Illinois senator for saying he favors gun rights but refusing to back efforts to overturn the Washington gun ban.
Campaigning in South Dakota on Friday, Obama told reporters there was no contradiction in his position on gun rights. "I think people have the right to lawfully bear arms," he said. "I do believe that there is nothing inconsistent with also saying that we can institute some common-sense gun laws so that we don't have kids being shot on the streets of cities like Chicago."
Obama, who has expressed far more support for limits on the sale and distribution of guns than McCain, will almost certainly face the greater challenge this fall if gun control becomes a major political issue.
But the issue could be complicated for McCain as well. "He needs to be in the audience listening instead of being at the podium speaking," one poster on saysuncle.com, a popular gun rights blog, said last week. "Maybe Cheney will take him hunting."
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noam.levey@latimes.com
