Gov. John Kasich has appeared to have changed his views on gun regulations, after years of saying he was a strong Second Amendment supporter on the rare occasions that he talked about it at all.
In an interview with CNN, Kasich called on President Trump to 鈥渢ake some steps鈥 on gun control, because he said he had no confidence in a dysfunctional Congress to address the issue. And because of that, Kasich said it needs to be dealt with at the state and local level.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where you need to put the pressure and call these people out,鈥 Kasich said.
It was quite a pivot for a governor who has touted, which noted he 鈥渉as signed every pro-Second Amendment bill that has crossed his desk鈥 and that he was endorsed by the NRA in his 2014 re-election bid.
Sometime after that CNN interview, though, that page disappeared 鈥 replaced with an error message.
The move left many confused, since Kasich hasn鈥檛 talked much about guns. He had voted, and got a failing grade from the NRA, which had endorsed Gov. Ted Strickland over Kasich in 2010.
Since Kasich won, he鈥檚 seen a steady list of bills expanding gun rights. In 2012, just days after 26 kids and adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut, Kasich said his support of the Second Amendment would not change, and that there were a range of issues involved, such as mental health, school security and a culture of violence. But he said he would not delay his plan to sign a bill .
鈥淲hatever we do, we don鈥檛 want to erode the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,鈥 Kasich said.
, just after eight people died in a shooting at an Oregon community college, presidential candidate John Kasich talked about reaching out to isolated, estranged people, but said this about more regulations.
鈥淚f I鈥檓 going to sell you a gun, do I have to go through all this checking?鈥 Kasich said. 鈥淚鈥檓 supposed to have some responsibility as they are at the gun show, and they should exercise that responsibility. But I don鈥檛 think more laws are going to fix this.鈥
Back in Ohio in June 2016, Kasich told reporters in the wake of the Orlando night club shooting, which left 49 people dead.
鈥淭his is more of a federal issue than it is that the state of Ohio 鈥 it鈥檚 got to be something that we all have to come together to look at,鈥 Kasich said.
And then last year, in several national TV interviews after the shooting deaths of 58 people in Las Vegas, Kasich called for the banning of the attachments to semi-automatic rifles that allow them to fire faster. A bill was proposed in Ohio last year but hasn鈥檛 had a hearing.
Kasich also wrote an op-ed and began talking about a group he wanted to convene to recommend what he called 鈥渃ommon sense鈥 regulations. At an , Kasich was asked about whether he鈥檇 ever had that meeting.
鈥淵es, we have and it鈥檚 just a small group, sort of informal, like a lot of our meetings," Kasich said. "And we have people who are very, very strong on pro-guns and those who say, look, we鈥檙e for 鈥 I made it clear, you have to be for the Second Amendment. If you just want to take people鈥檚 guns away, forget it. And we had a very good meeting.鈥
And on CNN鈥檚 鈥淪tate of the Union鈥 this weekend, Kasich referenced that meeting again, but still with no specifics about who was there and what happened. He did, however, bring up the leader of the Republican-dominated House, who could consider 14 currently pending bills that would expand gun rights.
鈥淭he Speaker of our House, Cliff Rosenberger, said he鈥檚 anxious to see what can be produced,鈥 Kasich said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l see. And if they don鈥檛 produce anything, I鈥檒l put my own stuff out.鈥
All along, the page labeled 鈥淒efend the Second Amendment鈥 remained on his campaign website 鈥 that is, until after the CNN interview. John Weaver, who was Kasich鈥檚 presidential campaign strategist, and in a statement that says Kasich鈥檚 views have evolved, but he didn鈥檛 offer specifics on when that happened.
Kasich鈥檚 website now has a new page: . He mentions the meeting of what he calls a 鈥渂ipartisan working group of gun owners and gun control advocates,鈥 and also what he calls 鈥渞easonable reforms鈥 such as 鈥渢he potential of expanding background checks on gun sales and limiting the ability to sell weapons that have often been used in mass killings.鈥
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