True, and he said it again in 2004. But one could also argue that his statements of support for the AWB, accompanied by the remarkable lack of pressure on congress to send him a bill to sign, made his "support" for the AWB nothing more than a political ploy designed to mollify the misinformed soccer moms of America who don't have a clue (thanks to liberal politicians, anti-gun groups and their talking-head puppets in the media) what the AWB is really about. He took that position because he wanted to seem "moderate," knew that even if he did vocally support it that, left with the choice between maintaining the status-quo or voting for the most anti-gun presidential candidate in history, gun owners would still vote for him, and he was gambling on the fact that congress in its present makeup wouldn't send him a bill so he'd never have to actually keep his promise. It was a calculated political gamble at its finest, and it seemed to pay off.

Mike