The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.

-- The ABC legalities blog is among many sources questioning Barak Obama’s supposed commitment to an individual’s right to own and bear arms – handguns, specifically. But as this article points out, he sounds just like a lot of Republicans on the issue – the Bush administration in particular. Stop pretending that the GOP defends those who would defend themselves.

Oh, come on, give credit where credit is due. First, the comparison is grossly unfair, as Obama assumes a priori that all restrictions on gun ownership are inherently reasonable, while the Bush Administration strongly suggests they are not, by positing a "heightened scrutiny" test DC and Chicago's handgun bans would almost certainly fail. [Note that Greenburg had a much more charitable take on the Bush Administration's brief at the time it was filed; not sure what changed since then.] Second, a majority of Congress and the states recently filed a brief of their own calling for strict scrutiny instead, the highest level of protection afforded to any constitutional rights. Granted, not every Republican signed onto the brief, and not everyone who did sign on was a Republican, but the trend is overwhelming.

Equally importantly, considering that this is a Presidential election year, consider that while Obama and Clinton each have a near-perfectly anti-gun record, McCain has a more solidly pro-gun record than any President who has served in your lifetime or mine, if not in U.S. history. And the other dweebs seeking the Republican endorsement, whom I loathe for other reasons, are more pro-gun still.

I don't see where Obama assumes a priori that all restrictions on gun ownership are inherently reasonable.

But I will grant that Republicans are, as a group, better about it than Democrats.

If you don't see where Obama assumes a priori that all gun ownership restrictions are reasonable, all you need to do is read Greenburg's commentary and the linked article more carefully. He expressly endorses DC and Chicago's handgun bans, which he disingenuously refers to as "gun safety" laws. This is also congruent with his record as a state Senator in IL, when he was part of a small minority even among Democrats to oppose the law that now offers a self-defense exception to local handgun bans. Bush, by contrast, launched his career by pushing a law to allow Texans to carry concealed what many Illinois residents can't own at all.

From the comments I had seen from him and in particular from the comments I had linked, I hadn't seen anything that made him worse on gun rights than the average Democrat. But I hadn't looked into it very deeply, I admit.

Pajamas Media raked him over the coals for some of the positions. Frightening - I look forward to somebody putting him on the spot about it.

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