I recently emailed factcheck.org. I like factcheck.org, I think they perform a valuable service. (And I said as much in my email to them.)

But when it comes to the recent article that specifically addresses the current NRA ad campaign that is targeting Obama, I told them…”the NRA is right, and you’re wrong.”

I DO realize that Obama’s public statements and campaign rhetoric do not reflect as severe a position on the issue as you might think. (Although, there ARE some concerns even with his stated positions, a few of which are acknowledged in the factcheck.org piece.)

My simple take on all of this is that Obama is LYING. In fact, if you read between the lines of what the NRA is answering to factcheck.org, they are simply asserting that they don’t believe Obama.

There are two reasons I agree. One, you rarely hear Obama talk about guns without contextualizing it into a discussion of hunting. Two, his voting record while serving in Illinois was consistently as bad on guns as it was on abortion. (To read about a particularly egregious example of this click HERE or to read about a very detailed accounting of the same story from Reason.com click HERE — note that the Reason article DOES mention the state legislation that was passed to protect Hale DeMar; however it does not mention that Obama voted against it. The article does not mention Obama at all.) Here is the money quote from the first article:

Illinois resident Hale DeMar was prosecuted by the town of Wilmette for using a handgun to defend his home in 2003. Wilmette had imposed a ban on the possession of handguns, in effect making the town a gun-free zone.

To correct the situation, several Illinois state legislators introduced SB 2165 to protect the right of self-defense for residents like DeMar. Obama voted against the bill.

That self-defense bill protecting the right to bear arms for law-abiding citizens such as DeMar passed the Illinois state Senate and was enacted into law over the governor’s veto (and Obama’s opposition).

Why does this matter? As president I believe that Obama WILL try to a) roll back CWP laws instituted by the states and b) roll back castle doctrine laws established by the states. (In other words, I believe his legislation will relflect that people do not have a right to defend themselves or their familes with lethal force using a firearm.) If nothing else this will be a federal power grab which will override the laws in all fifty states. I think that this is particularly likely if Obama wins by a decent margin and the Democrats win veto-proof majorities in the congress.

You heard it here first.

Seth