If you’re like me, you find nothing particularly new or interesting about vapid celebrities bloviating on gun control, it’s been a slow news cycle over the past week. In some ways, I hate to complain about that, because careful what you wish for. These days I’m reminded I was complaining a lot before the Sandy Hook gun control fight that things were getting pretty boring in the issue. Charles C.W. Cooke recently did an interview with Ann Coulter speaking about The Donald, including his vacillation on gun control topics over the years.
I’ve long argued that people can be educated, and that those who seek and hold political office will often gravitate towards or away from positions based solely on political expediency. That Trump once held a different opinion doesn’t bother me too much. But all things being equal, I’d rather have a candidate who’s been more solid on the issue over the years. Coulter is correct that Kasich once voted for an assault weapons ban, but has since come to Jesus. I don’t think Kasich has a prayer of winning the nomination.
These days, I’m kind of leaning toward Carly, who has been pretty consistent for at least a few years on the gun issue, and I’m impressed with how well she handles hostile media. But I’d still classify myself as undecided.
“That Trump once held a different opinion doesn’t bother me too much.”
Of course, if this were just one issue, I think I’d trust him a lot more. But to me it seems that *every* issue is like this, and his switching seems to have happened within the last few months. Because of this, I never really felt I could trust Trump.
Indeed, I suspect that he’s telling us what he thinks we want to hear (at least on the Republican side)…
What makes this worrisome to me is that I have the impression that he’s either doing this as a stalking horse for Hillary…or that he sincerely thinks he can get into the Presidency telling us what we want to hear, so that once he gets there, he’ll do whatever he wants to do, contrary to what he said he’d do beforehand.
I also haven’t ruled out the possibility that he’s told Hillary that he’d do this for her, and was perhaps even sincere about it…but he’ll stab her in the back and run for the finish line the moment it becomes clear that he has a decent chance to become President himself…
Taken as a whole, I think Trump is an awful choice. He seems to be making it up as he goes.
I do not know if Donald Trump’s views have changed, but a lot of people’s views and positions changed in the last 20 years on guns. Much of it was due to the hysteria and over-reaction of the anti-gunners. Get rid of “Assault Waepons!” We did in 1994, and crime did not stop. After ten years, most reasonable people said, What ban? Why? Mehhh.
Did anyone successfully run on keeping the assault weapon ban in 2004 or 2006?
Every state that enacted shall-issue carry permits were subjected to the same hysterical editorials and campaigns.
Dodge City!
Blood in the Streets!
Road Rage Massacres!
Wild West Shootouts!
Parking Dispute Murders!
Everyone is GOING TO DIE!!!!!!!!
And after Shall Issue passed, crickets. Nothing happened. No blood, no massacres. Crime actually went down if anyone noticed. So if Trump changed his mind, I can believe he honestly has changed his mind. I know I did.
I have come to believe any politician who does not trust people with guns does not trust people, and they think that we are just peasants, serfs, and proles to be controlled by our betters in government.