The article from the Washington Times contains this (September 15, 2015):
The major candidates range from those who see firearms as fundamentally connected to freedom, to those who promote guns as critical for self-protection, to those who have only recently evolved into Second Amendment defenders, said John R. Lott, Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center. . . .
Mr. Lott said the lack of a forceful pro-gun candidate stretches back to President George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection, when he shied away from the issue.
Mr. Lott said this time around there are a host of gun champions who go beyond merely saying they favor the Second Amendment, and articulate expansively on why they believe their pro-gun policies are good for the country.
He mentioned former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Mr. Cruz as standouts.
“They’re all strong in terms of kind of the bottom line, but I think people like Fiorina, Rubio, Cruz [and] Carson seem to stand out in terms of them having a broader understanding of why it’s important for people to be able to defend themselves,” he said.
Mr. Lott mentioned Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Mr. Paul as examples of candidates who have actively worked to put pro-gun policies into place through their official positions, and said Ohio Gov. John Kasich and businessman Donald Trump are examples of candidates whose Second Amendment views have shifted over the years. . . .
Mr. Lott said there’s nothing necessarily wrong with people changing their views, but “it raises the issue, are they just changing it because it’s politically expedient now for them to do so, or is it [a] fundamental understanding of the issues?” . . .
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