By Mike Hothi
Grassroots guns rights groups in Georgia blasted GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich today for supporting gun control laws during his time as Speaker of the House.
In a statement Monday, the group stated “Georgia Gun Owners know Newt’s history of gun control. He represented parts of our state for 20 years. He’s been playing both sides of the gun issue as long as we can remember.”
Prior to becoming Speaker, Gingrich had an “A” rating with Gun Owners of America (GOA). However, once he came to power the GOA dropped his rating to a “D.”
The activists said today that Gingrich spoke against more gun regulations despite supporting gun control legislation in the House.
Gingrich had stated, “as long as I am Speaker of this House, no gun control legislation is going to move in committee or on the floor of this House and there will be no further erosion of their rights.” However, Gingrich supported a gun control bill that stripped Second Amendment rights from citizens charged with misdemeanor domestic violence.
“Newt Gingrich is no friend of gun owners,” said the group. “I wish Georgia Gun Owners had a mountaintop to scream this information from.”
This criticism of Gingrich comes as he has achieved frontrunner status in Iowa less than a month away from the Iowa caucuses.