MILLER: Rick Perry says Obama wants to ‘disarm the American public’


Gov. Rick Perry sat back in shock when I told him President Obama declared to Mexicans
that an upside of his efforts to infringe upon the Second Amendment would be to make them safer.

The Texas Republican, a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), pushed back his
chair and thought before speaking.

“The idea that a United States president would go to Mexico and make that statement is incredulous,”

the 2012 president candidate told me in an interview after his rousing speech at the NRA annual
meeting in Houston Friday. “His goal —  well before he became president of the United States  —
was to try to disarm the American public. He just disregards the Constitution.”

In Mexico City Friday, Mr. Obama said that, “Most of the guns used to commit violence
here in Mexico come from the United States.” He mentioned that the Constitution protects
the right to bear arms (he didn’t say “keep arms”), then continued that, “I will continue to
do everything in my power to pass common-sense reforms that keep guns out of the
hands of criminals and dangerous people.  That can save lives here in Mexico and back
home in the United States.”

The president never mentioned the debacle on his watch of Fast and Furious, yet said,
“We’ll keep increasing the pressure on gun traffickers who bring illegal guns into Mexico.  
We’ll keep putting these criminals where they belong — behind bars.”

Mr. Perry has a very different view of the importance of restricting gun rights in America
in order to protect Mexicans. “Nothing could be a greater tragedy for America than to
disarm the public,” the Lone Star State chief executive said. “If mothers want peace
of mind. If mothers want their children to be safe. An armed, knowledgeable general
populace is the way for that to occur.”

I asked Mr. Perry about whether he would run for president again in 2016. “I will
announce an the end of this year,” he replied. To keep the Second Amendment
preserved with the intent of our Founding Fathers, the voters need to elect someone
to the White House who respects the Constitution and puts freedom and America first.

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