Be Informed About Barack Obama on Gun Rights

Like most Democrats, Barack Obama believes hand gun laws should be strictly enforced. The following Obama quotes will elaborate on this political stance of tight gun laws.

Barack Obama's Interpretation on the 2nd Amendment: "As a general principle, I believe that the Constitution confers an individual right to bear arms. But just because you have an individual right does not mean that the state or local government can’t constrain the exercise of that right, in the same way that we have a right to private property but local governments can establish zoning ordinances that determine how you can use it."

Barack Obama's Stance on Licensing and Registration of Guns:"I think we can provide common-sense approaches to the issue of illegal guns that are ending up on the streets. We can make sure that criminals don’t have guns in their hands. We can make certain that those who are mentally deranged are not getting a hold of handguns. We can trace guns that have been used in crimes to unscrupulous gun dealers that may be selling to straw purchasers and dumping them on the streets."

Barack Obama's Feelings Towards the Attempted D.C. Handgun Ban and his Thoughts on whether it was a Violation of the Second Amendment: "I think we have two conflicting traditions in this country. I think it’s important for us to recognize that we’ve got a tradition of handgun ownership and gun ownership generally. And a lot of law-abiding citizens use it for hunting, for sportsmanship, and for protecting their families.

We also have a violence on the streets that is the result of illegal handgun usage. And so I think there is nothing wrong with a community saying we are going to take those illegal handguns off the streets. And cracking down on the various loopholes that exist in terms of background checks for children, the mentally ill. We can have reasonable, thoughtful gun control measure that I think respect the Second Amendment and people’s traditions."

Barack Obama's General Stance (Enforcement Must Be Separated Between Hunting Weapons and Handguns): "What we can do is provide some common-sense enforcement. The efforts by law enforcement to obtain the information required to trace back guns that have been used in crimes to unscrupulous gun dealers. We essentially have two realities, when it comes to guns, in this country. You’ve got the tradition of lawful gun ownership.

It is very important for many Americans to be able to hunt, fish, take their kids out, teach them how to shoot. Then you’ve got the reality of 34 Chicago public school students who get shot down on the streets of Chicago. We can reconcile those two realities by making sure the Second Amendment is respected and that people are able to lawfully own guns, but that we also start cracking down on the kinds of abuses of firearms that we see on the streets."

Barack Obama likes to refer to his stance on gun ownership as a "common-sense enforcement." The President wants to uphold the rich tradition of hunting and sport, while eliminating loopholes, and enforcing background checks on all handgun purchases. The President believes there are two classes of weapons. The legal side, which upholds Obama's beliefs that the Second Amendment should be interpreted on an individual basis, and the use of guns among law-abiding Americans is legal for hunting, recreational, and protection purposes.

And the non-legal side, where handgun violence is a major issue in America and background checks and permit processes should be strictly enforced to prevent criminals from obtaining such harmful weapons. Obama also believes all assault rifles and machine guns should be banned regardless of use. Barack Obama's stance is a median interpretation of gun rights that is weighted towards the liberal side.

NEXT: For and Against The Second Amendment