President Obama represents a clear and present danger to our Constitution, to our way of life and to our guns …

QUESTION: President Obama, during the Democratic National Convention in 2008, you stated you wanted to keep AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. What has your administration done or planned to do to limit the availability of assault weapons?

OBAMA: We're a nation that believes in the Second Amendment, and I believe in the Second Amendment. We've got a long tradition of hunting and sportsmen and people who want to make sure they can protect themselves.

• “We're a nation that believes in the Second Amendment.” (True statement.)
• “ … and I believe in the Second Amendment. (previous statements and actions prove this to be false.)
• “We've got a long tradition of hunting and sportsmen and people who want to make sure they can protect themselves.” (True statement.)

Unfortunately, in Obama’s Chicago, the have a staggering murder rate – exceeding U.S. soldier deaths in war-ravaged areas AND one of the strictest gun control laws in the nation. It appears that the democrats are afraid of their core minority constituency and would be branded as “racists” if it was shown that most crime is Black-Black or Black-Hispanic and that the real problem is not gun control, but crime control – over turf, over drugs, over sex, over sports.

But there have been too many instances during the course of my presidency, where I've had to comfort families who have lost somebody. Most recently out in Aurora. You know, just a couple of weeks ago, actually, probably about a month, I saw a mother, who I had met at the bedside of her son, who had been shot in that theater. And her son had been shot through the head. And we spent some time, and we said a prayer and, remarkably, about two months later, this young man and his mom showed up, and he looked unbelievable, good as new. But there were a lot of families who didn't have that good fortune and whose sons or daughters or husbands didn't survive.

• In Aurora, Colorado, the mass shooting was perpetrated by a crazy – a mentally ill person who also used chemical and incendiary devices in the course of his attack and in booby-trapping his home. A crazy person will use any means possible to get their hands on weapons. What we really have here is a failure of the system – a school psychologist and campus police – whose failure to take action lead to this tragedy.

So my belief is that, (A), we have to enforce the laws we've already got, make sure that we're keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill. We've done a much better job in terms of background checks, but we've got more to do when it comes to enforcement.

• Yes, we need to enforce the laws on our books – but the government deliberately allowed weapons to be given to gang members and which were used to kill Mexican citizens and American Border Patrol Agents. All for the purpose of implementing strong gun control based on American weapons found in Mexico in the hands of the dangerous and deadly drug cartels. Nobody was supposed to know that Obama’s fellow travelers placed them in the hands of the Mexicans. And when Attorney General Holder lied to Congress and information was needed for an investigation, the President invoked “Presidential Privilege” over documents that they even refused to list. Clearly a violation of the law.

But I also share your belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don't belong on our streets.

• This is classic misdirection. Fully automatic weapons, such as those found in battle, are illegal to own, possess or use without special federal permits. Heavier weapons, such as rocket propelled grenades etc. are mostly used in Mexico and other foreign lands. To classify a weapon as an “assault weapon” because it looks dangerous (as is done here in California) is the height of hypocrisy. To ban self-cocking semi-automatic weapons (one trigger pull for each shot) because they are also used in combat is disingenuous, dishonest and misleading.

And so what I'm trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced. But part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence.

• But Obama refuses to confront the fact that most crime in democrat areas is racially-sensitive. He wants to make gun crime society’s problem – and punish everyone equally by denying them access to self-protection. Making everyone dependent on government for their safety and security – without guaranteeing that such safety and security can be provided.

Because frankly, in my home town of Chicago, there's an awful lot of violence and they're not using AK-47s. They're using cheap hand guns.

• If you have seen some of the weapons confiscated from gangs in Chicago, they are anything but cheap.
• Chicago refuses to tackle the gang issue head-on. Perhaps what is needed is another G-man like Eliot Ness willing to take on the gangs and disarm them. 

And so what can we do to intervene, to make sure that young people have opportunity; that our schools are working; that if there's violence on the streets, that working with faith groups and law enforcement, we can catch it before it gets out of control.

• What a joke. Faith groups who deliver votes to the democrats in return for “walking around money” and the ability to direct a few political patronage jobs. Look at the typical gang killing – if such things could be called typical – and you see the Church-going mother wailing. No father or strong guiding hand to be found. With all of this religiosity, one would assume that the children would behave better. 

And so what I want is a — is a comprehensive strategy. Part of it is seeing if we can get automatic weapons that kill folks in amazing numbers out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. But part of it is also going deeper and seeing if we can get into these communities and making sure we catch violent impulses before they occur.

• This is a bald-faced lie. Automatic weapons are rarely found in the streets. This is all talk and no walk. Obama did nothing as a Senator and nothing as a President to resolve the issue of inner city crime or inner city opportunity.

CROWLEY: Governor Romney, the question is about assault weapons, AK-47s.

ROMNEY: Yeah, I'm not in favor of new pieces of legislation on — on guns and taking guns away or making certain guns illegal. We, of course, don't want to have automatic weapons, and that's already illegal in this country to have automatic weapons. What I believe is we have to do, as the president mentioned towards the end of his remarks there, which is to make enormous efforts to enforce the gun laws that we have, and to change the culture of violence that we have.

And you ask how — how are we going to do that? And there are a number of things. He mentioned good schools. I totally agree. We were able to drive our schools to be number one in the nation in my state. And I believe if we do a better job in education, we'll — we'll give people the — the hope and opportunity they deserve and perhaps less violence from that. But let me mention another thing. And that is parents. We need moms and dads, helping to raise kids. Wherever possible the — the benefit of having two parents in the home, and that's not always possible. A lot of great single moms, single dads. But gosh to tell our kids that before they have babies, they ought to think about getting married to someone, that's a great idea.

Because if there's a two parent family, the prospect of living in poverty goes down dramatically. The opportunities that the child will — will be able to achieve increase dramatically. So we can make changes in the way our culture works to help bring people away from violence and give them opportunity, and bring them in the American system. The — the greatest failure we've had with regards to — to gun violence in some respects is what — what is known as Fast and Furious. Which was a program under this administration, and how it worked exactly I think we don't know precisely, where thousands of automatic, and AK-47 type weapons were — were given to people that ultimately gave them to — to drug lords.

They used those weapons against — against their own citizens and killed Americans with them. And this was a — this was a program of the government. For what purpose it was put in place, I can't imagine. But it's one of the great tragedies related to violence in our society which has occurred during this administration. Which I think the American people would like to understand fully, it's been investigated to a degree, but — but the administration has carried out executive privilege to prevent all of the information from coming out.

I'd like to understand who it was that did this, what the idea was behind it, why it led to the violence, thousands of guns going to Mexican drug lords. OBAMA: Candy?

CROWLEY: Governor, Governor, if I could, the question was about these assault weapons that once were once banned and are no longer banned.

Here Candy Crowley demonstrates her Obama-bias and asks a question openly slanted to favor Barack Obama and to make Mitt Romney look bad.

I know that you signed an assault weapons ban when you were in Massachusetts, obviously, with this question, you no longer do support that. Why is that, given the kind of violence that we see sometimes with these mass killings? Why is it that you have changed your mind?

ROMNEY: Well, Candy, actually, in my state, the pro-gun folks and the anti-gun folks came together and put together a piece of legislation. And it's referred to as an assault weapon ban, but it had, at the signing of the bill, both the pro-gun and the anti-gun people came together, because it provided opportunities for both that both wanted. There were hunting opportunities, for instance, that haven't previously been available and so forth, so it was a mutually agreed- upon piece of legislation. That's what we need more of, Candy. What we have right now in Washington is a place that's gridlocked.

CROWLEY: So I could — if you could get people to agree to it, you would be for it?

ROMNEY: We have —

OBAMA: Candy?

ROMNEY: — we haven't had the leadership in Washington to work on a bipartisan basis. I was able to do that in my state and bring these two together.

CROWLEY: Quickly, Mr. President.

OBAMA: The — first of all, I think Governor Romney was for an assault weapons ban before he was against it. And he said that the reason he changed his mind was, in part, because he was seeking the endorsement of the National Rifle Association. So that's on the record.

• Obama “cheap-shots” Romney. (Pun intended). I am a life member (Benefactor Level) of the NRA and they are all about protecting the Second Amendment – to prevent governmental tyranny as well as being about sports and gun safety. Obama is about disarming the public, making them vulnerable to the thuggery and crime that will lead to a larger, more totalitarian government. Oppressing the people to the point where they will revolt and accept socialism as a legitimate solution. So ask yourself, how did that work out in France, Greece, Cuba, Russia and elsewhere?

But I think that one area we agree on is the important of parents and the importance of schools, because I do believe that if our young people have opportunity, then they are less likely to engage in these kinds of violent acts. We're not going to eliminate everybody who is mentally disturbed and we have got to make sure they don't get weapons.

(AUDIO GAP)

OBAMA: because I do believe that if our young people have opportunity, then they're less likely to engage in these kind of violent acts.

We're not going to eliminate everybody who is mentally disturbed, and we've got to make sure they don't get weapons. But we can make a difference in terms ensuring that every young person in America, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, have a chance to succeed.

And, Candy, we haven't had a chance to talk about education much, but I think it is very important to understand that the reforms we've put in place, working with 46 governors around the country, are seeing schools that are some of the ones that are the toughest for kids starting to succeed. We're starting to see gains in math and science.

When it comes to community colleges, we are setting up programs, including with Nassau Community College, to retrain workers, including young people who may have dropped out of school but now are getting another chance, training them for the jobs that exist right now.

And in fact, employers are looking for skilled workers. And so we're matching them up. Giving them access to higher education. As I said, we have made sure that millions of young people are able to get an education that they weren't able to get before.

Now...

CROWLEY: Mr. President, I have to — I have to move you along here. You said you wanted to...

(CROSSTALK)

CROWLEY: We need to do it here.

OBAMA: But — but it'll — it'll — it'll be...

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: ... just one second.

CROWLEY: One...

OBAMA: Because — because this is important. This is part of the choice in this election.

When Governor Romney was asked whether teachers, hiring more teachers was important to growing our economy, Governor Romney said that doesn't grow our economy.

When — when he was asked would class size...

(CROSSTALK)

CROWLEY: The question, Mr. President, was guns here, so I need to move us along.

OBAMA: I understand.

CROWLEY: You know, the question was guns. So let me — let me bring in another...

OBAMA: But this will make a difference in terms of whether or not we can move this economy forward for these young people...

CROWLEY: I understand.

OBAMA: ... and reduce our violence.

CROWLEY: OK. Thank you so much.

 

Bottom line …

Obama doesn’t respect the Second Amendment nor do the socialist/Marxist fellow travelers he hangs with. Want to see Obama’s pals – look at William Ayers and Bernadette Dohrn, domestic terrorists who used explosives in their violent revolutionary revolt against the government. These are the people who sponsored Barack Obama, gave him his big chance, fundraised for him – and according to some accounts, ghostwrote his first book.

I would chose the competent Mitt Romney over incompetent Barack Hussein Obama in a minute. Not because Romney is a conservative, he isn’t – but because he knows how to fix the economy. He knows how to work with the opposition in a bi-partisan manner. He was a Republican Governor in a Democrat state and made it work.

Make up your own mind. Romney for growth and reform, Obama for four more years of misery and eloquent speeches. I vote Romney. Enough TelePrompTered wisdom from fellow Marxists – enough Obama.

-- steve 

Reference Links …

Presidential debate transcript, questions, Oct. 16, 2012 (text, video) - Politico Staff - POLITICO.com