Since President Obama's election, many conservative media figures have baselessly warned their audiences that Obama and the Democratic Congress will try to ban/confiscate guns or have suggested that a government effort to ban guns is likely:
- O'Reilly says it's “not out of the realm of possibility” that Obama will ban guns
- Wash. Times warns readers Pelosi will “try to confiscate” guns
- Media conservatives fearmongering: Obama will “take away your gun”
- Beck denies responsibility for Pittsburgh shooting, adds that Obama “will slowly but surely take away your gun or take away your ability to shoot a gun, carry a gun”
- Liddy advises listeners: "[N]o matter what law they pass, do not -- repeat, not -- ever register any of your firearms"
We can now add Fox News contributor Sarah Palin to that list. In a speech at the NRA's annual convention on Friday in North Carolina, the former half-term Governor of Alaska became the latest conservative media figure to advance the baseless fearmongering.
The Associated Press reports:
Palin, a potential 2012 presidential candidate, told National Rifle Association members during their annual meeting that the only thing stopping Obama and his Democratic allies from trying to ban guns is political backlash.
“Don't doubt for a minute that, if they thought they could get away with it, they would ban guns and ban ammunition and gut the Second Amendment,” said Palin, a lifelong NRA member who once had a baby shower at a local gun range in Alaska. “It's the job of all of us at the NRA and its allies to stop them in their tracks.”
Palin, the GOP's 2008 vice presidential nominee, also praised tea party activism as a “beautiful movement,” drawing a rousing applause from thousands of NRA members who gathered in an arena used by the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats.