OPINION:
Gov. Rick Perry sat back in shock when I told him President Obama declared to Mexicans that an upside of his efforts to infringe upon the Second Amendment would be to make them safer. The Texas Republican, a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), pushed back his chair and thought before speaking.
“The idea that a United States president would go to Mexico and make that statement is incredulous,” the 2012 president candidate told me in an interview after his rousing speech at the NRA annual meeting in Houston Friday. “His goal — well before he became president of the United States — was to try to disarm the American public. He just disregards the Constitution.”
In Mexico City Friday, Mr. Obama said that, “Most of the guns used to commit violence here in Mexico come from the United States.” He mentioned that the Constitution protects the right to bear arms (he didn’t say “keep arms”), then continued that, “I will continue to do everything in my power to pass common-sense reforms that keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people. That can save lives here in Mexico and back home in the United States.”
The president never mentioned the debacle on his watch of Fast and Furious, yet said, “We’ll keep increasing the pressure on gun traffickers who bring illegal guns into Mexico. We’ll keep putting these criminals where they belong — behind bars.”
Mr. Perry has a very different view of the importance of restricting gun rights in America in order to protect Mexicans. “Nothing could be a greater tragedy for America than to disarm the public,” the Lone Star State chief executive said. “If mothers want peace of mind. If mothers want their children to be safe. An armed, knowledgeable general populace is the way for that to occur.”
I asked Mr. Perry about whether he would run for president again in 2016. “I will announce an the end of this year,” he replied. To keep the Second Amendment preserved with the intent of our Founding Fathers, the voters need to elect someone to the White House who respects the Constitution and puts freedom and America first.
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