Post date: Apr 13, 2012 8:56:16 PM
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, UNITED STATES (APRIL 13, 2012) (NBC) - U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney vowed to gun owners on Friday (April 13) he would reverse what he called the restrictive gun policies of President Barack Obama.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he will stand up for lawful gun owners during a speech at the National Rifle Association convention.
Romney, who has fumbled when talking about his experience with guns, took up the cause of sportsmen and other gun owners in an address before the annual convention of the National Rifle Association in St. Louis, Missouri.
It was Romney's first speech to a major conservative group since his closest rival for the Republican nomination, Rick Santorum, suspended his campaign this week. That cleared Romney's path to take on Obama, a Democrat, in the November 6th general election.
The former Massachusetts governor needs to win over conservatives, many of whom are gun owners, but they have shown limited enthusiasm for him.
"We need a President who will enforce current laws, not create new ones that only serve to burden lawful gun owners. President Obama has not. I will. We need a President who will stand up for the rights of hunters, sportsmen, and those who seek to protect their homes, and their families. President Obama has not. I will. And if we are going to safeguard our Second Amendment, it's time to elect a president who will defend the rights President Obama ignores or minimizes, and I will protect the Second Amendment rights of American people," Romney said, during his speech.
Romney's NRA appearance comes during a nationwide debate over gun rights and race after the Florida shooting of an unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin, by neighborhood crime watch volunteer George Zimmerman.
A Romney campaign official said Friday that decisions surrounding "Stand Your Ground" laws - which allow people to use deadly force when they believe their lives are in danger - should be left to individual states. Florida's version of the law has come under attack in the Trayvon Martin case.
Romney dismissed the Obama administration's handling of gun rights, saying the White House operates outside of the original vision for American government.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Thursday showed that 68 percent, or two out of three respondents, had a favorable opinion of the NRA, which lobbies against limits on gun ownership.
Eighty-two percent of Republicans saw the gun lobbying group in a positive light as well as 55 percent of Democrats, findings that run counter to the perception of Democrats as anti-NRA.
But the poll also showed strong support for some gun controls including background checks, limiting the sale of automatic weapons and keeping guns out of churches, stores and workplaces.