• Sarah Palin is a full supporter of the right to keep and
bear arms as stated in the Constitution. In her own words, "I am
a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, I support
our Constitutional right to bear arms and am a proponent of gun
safety programs for Alaska's youth." 

• Sarah Palin has been a hunting and fishing enthusiast
from the age of ten when she shot her first rabbit.  She learned
hunting and fishing skills from her father and describes the
sports as her hobbies. Palin herself has commented that her
freezer is full of wild game.

• Being the lifelong member of NRA, Palin supports the
campaign to end the ban on handguns that had been in place for
more than three decades.

• Palin vehemently opposes restrictions on access to
firearms. Palin, as Governor of Alaska, signed a multi-state
amicus brief, part of which reads as follows: "The Framers were
understandably wary of standing armies and the powers of a
potentially oppressive government ... The introductory clause [of
the Second Amendment], properly understood, confirms the primary
benefit of the operational clause -- a citizenry capable of
defending its rights by force, when all other means have failed,
against any future oppression."
		

• Obama addressed the June 2008 Supreme Court decision
striking down the District of Columbia's gun ban by saying, ?I
have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right
of individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need
for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the
violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective
safety measures. The Supreme Court has now endorsed that view,
and while it ruled that the D.C. gun ban went too far, Justice
Scalia himself acknowledged that this right is not absolute and
subject to reasonable regulations enacted by local communities to
keep their streets safe.?

?• Obama's gun control policy was widely expected to be in
the direction of putting a curb on the use of gun.

• Once he took charge as President, Obama declared his
firearm policy by listing out certain priorities.  Thus gun
policy would be administered in two areas - 'ending the dangerous
cycle of youth violence' and 'addressing gun violence in cities'.


• Obama has rather a long history of record of supporting
the anti-gun policy in his public career. Obama used to support
radical anti-gun foundations such as the Joyce Foundation as
early as the 1994. Obama was also seen supporting the ban of
weapons, imposition of taxes on arms and ammunition and
legislations intended to put a check on the use of guns
throughout his career.

• However, Obama respects the gun owners' rights as had
been mentioned in the Constitution. "I have no intention of
taking away folks' guns. It's important for us to recognize that
we?ve got a tradition of handgun ownership and gun ownership
generally." 

• Obama also added that, "I have never favored an all-out
ban on handguns. What I think we can provide is common-sense
approaches to the issue of illegal guns that are ending up on the
streets."

• Pertaining to the Second Amendment and individual gun
owners' rights, "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."