Ari Richter has a great column in the Concord Monitor on the Democrats' problem with the Second Amendment:
For Barack Obama, lawfully owning a gun seems to begin and end with hunting: "We essentially have two realities, when it comes to guns, in this country. You've got the tradition of lawful gun ownership, that all of us saw, as we travel around rural parts of the country. And it is very important for many Americans to be able to hunt, fish, take their kids out, teach them how to shoot. And then you've got the reality of 34 Chicago public school students who get shot down on the streets of Chicago. "We can reconcile those two realities by making sure the Second Amendment is respected and that people are able to lawfully own guns, but that we also start cracking down on the kinds of abuses of firearms that we see on the streets." Son-of-the-South John Edwards opposes registration and licensing of guns, which Obama and Hillary Clinton have supported in the past. But he, too, comes back to hunting: "I do think we need a president who understands the sportsmen, hunters who use their guns for lawful purposes have a right to have their Second Amendment rights looked after." Clinton, to her credit, said nothing to suggest the Second Amendment exists mainly for hunters. But her language, too, betrayed her: "You know, I believe in the Second Amendment. People have a right to bear arms. But I also believe that we can common-sensically approach this." United States senators (and presidents) are not asked to believe in the Constitution. They are called on - and swear to - defend it. In the case of the Second Amendment, what they're supposed to be defending is the right of Americans to defend themselves. Against tyranny. Not Bambi or Bullwinkle.
Good stuff, go read the whole thing.