Lakhota
Diamond Member
By Rebecca Leber
Previously unreported tapes of Richard Nixon reveal the president once called for a ban on handguns.
The Associated Press reports Nixon took a hard stand during an exchange on May 16, 1972, the day after an attempted assassination on George Wallace:
“I don’t know why any individual should have a right to have a revolver in his house,” Nixon said in a taped conversation with aides. “The kids usually kill themselves with it and so forth.” He asked why “can’t we go after handguns, period?”
Nixon went on: “I know the rifle association will be against it, the gun makers will be against it.” But “people should not have handguns.”
Republicans, including Nixon and Ronald Reagan, have backed anti-gun violence measures, and yet President ObamaÂ’s commonsense, widely supported proposals have only met blanket resistance from the NRA.
More: Richard Nixon Wanted A Handgun Ban