I think Mitt Romney is purposely not saying anything substantive about his positions on gun control during the campaign so far. Yes, it is one of his weaknesses and a negative for many Americans. I don't want to have to hold my nose when I vote again for president.
He says he wants to enforce the laws that are on the books. That is not good enough for me. That is a standard evasive politican statement. Would he support a national FOID card? Would he support a national registry? Would he support charging firearm owners an annual fee to own a firearm to pay for a registry? Does he support a national waiting period when he knows it has little effect on crime?
Does he feel it is a state's issue? He has already said he supported MA gun laws which are some of the toughest in the country. What does he really believe? Would he support new legislation that is more restrctive relative to gun control? Or is he the gutless politician that changes his views to fit a campaign and essentially has no core values?
Does he just want to WIN? That pretty much sums up our President also. I have so many questions and few answers.
Meh... Bolded above is exactly it. And that means...
I'd bet my current stash in the gun-fund (roughly $900) that he'll be mostly status-quo on guns and RKBA. He'll be no worse than Bush II was. ATF gets cleaned up a bit, not dramatically, as we'd actually like to see, but the worst of it like Gunwalker goes away. No major EO's on imports etc.
He's enough of a "finger in the wind" type that I sincerely doubt we'd see anything outrageous from him in regards to guns, and go against the largely pro-RKBA national trend that's gone on since the '94 watershed.
Seeing as even Reagan and Bush I gave us lousy SCOTUS pics, Mitt is no guarantee either, but IMO, you can guarantee that Obama would pick a bunch more "Wise Latinas" and Janet Reno/Napolitano/Kagan looking short haired... er.. things to take the bench.
The pros and cons of all this really has me on the bleeding knife-edge between holding my nose, and voting for Mitt, and then going home to cry in the shower while scrubbing till I'm raw and the hot water runs out, and an actual protest vote.
In my darker moods, I'm more pragmatic. I'm simply thinking "
Who will give me and my kids more time to prepare?" and "
Who will be most likely to leave me armed for when it all goes to hell?".