by Jim Shepherd, editor and publisher of the The Outdoor and Shooting Wires, just had a one-on-one interview with Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain. The full interview can be found here.
With regard to participating in outdoor sports, Cain said he fishes irregularly, has never hunted, and has camped maybe one time. However, he does shoot but not on a regular basis.
The part of the interview that is really relevant here is what he said about the Second Amendment. Shepherd does bring up Cain’s past statements on it that have seemed wishy-washy.
SHEPHERD: OK, let’s segue from that to the Second Amendment. You have said “the Second Amendment, I support it”. Yet at the same time you’ve said the states should have the right “absolutely” to regulate firearms. How do you reconcile what sounds like a double standard?
CAIN: That wasn’t what I said.
SHEPHERD: OK….
CAIN: …for example, if a state wants to require some sort of background ID check that should be the state’s determination. If the state wants a different requirement for carrying concealed…those are the kinds of things I’m talking about.
I did not say that I believed the states should regulate firearms, that was a misinterpretation. Somebody will go back and dig that up, but if it was said – and I don’t think that it was – I never intended that. I was talking about IDs, that’s what I was talking about.
SHEPHERD: Do you then believe that Chicago and Washington, D.C. have the right to have so restrictive a local regulation that it virtually assures that you can not own a handgun, even if you meet the federal requirements?
CAIN: I don’t agree with those decisions.
Herman Cain then goes on to make a more definitive statement on the Second Amendment and the right to self-protection and self-defense.
CAIN: Let me say one other thing about the Second Amendment.
SHEPHERD: Please do..
CAIN: And I have to say it this way: the founders said people are endowed with certain unalienable rights and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
I happen to believe there’s another certain unalienable right included in that, and that is the right to defend yourself, to defend your family and to protect your property which I call the Second Amendment to the Constitution.
So, it’s not only an Amendment..
I happen to believe that it’s an unalienable right, right there with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Jim Shepherd details how this interview came about at the bottom of today’s Outdoor Wire.
I am a little uneasy about Cain saying that states could have a more stringent background ID check as it seems that is a carte blance given to the gun prohibitionists in places like California, Illinois, and Massachusetts. I am glad that Cain recognized that we have a right to protect ourselves, our families, and our property. Read the whole interview and decide for yourself.
Thanks to Jim Shepherd for doing what it took to get this interview. Stuff like this doesn’t regularly appear in the mainstream media.
