Op-Ed: John Kerry and assault weapons: Takes one to own one?

September 22, 2004
The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA)

CHASTISING PRESIDENT BUSH for allowing the ban on assault weapons to lapse, Sen. Kerry charged in a speech on Sept. 10 that "America's streets will not be safe because of a choice George Bush is making" and that "in the al-Qaida manual on terror, they were telling people to go out and buy assault weapons, to come to America and buy assault weapons." Furthermore, "Every law-enforcement officer in America doesn't want us selling assault weapons in the streets of America," he claimed.

Strong words from the Democratic candidate. But now we read in the October issue of Outdoor Life that Mr. Kerry himself may have one of these nefarious firearms. Asked if he was a gun owner and, if so, what was his favorite gun, the man from Massachusetts said, "My favorite gun is the M-16 that saved my life and that of my crew in Vietnam. I don't own one of those now, but one of my reminders of my service is a Communist Chinese assault rifle."

An assault rifle? Egads! So what is Mr. Kerry's philosophy, exactly? Outlaw guns, so only lawmakers can have them?