Speaking with Tim Russert yesterday on Meet the Press, Mitt Romney tried out a bit of revisionist history. From the Washington Post:

In answer to questions about whether he would sign an assault weapons ban, Romney said: “Just as the president said, he would have, he would have signed that bill if it came to his desk, and so would have I. And, and, and yet I also was pleased to have the support of the NRA when I ran for governor. I sought it, I seek it now. I’d love to have their support.”

Later in the interview, he added the following:

“I just talked about, about guns. I told you what my position was, and what I, what I did as governor; the fact that I received the endorsement of the NRA.”

The problem?

He was never endorsed by the NRA, and didn’t have their official support during his 2002 gubernatorial campaign. The NRA declined to endorse in that race, as was acknowledged by Romney’s spokesman this morning.

Matter of fact, as the WaPo article points out, his opponent, Shannon O’Brien, received an “A” grade.

To be honest, some of the NRA grades (usually published in their magazine, America’s First Freedom) are a bit of a mystery to me. They’ve given high marks to candidates who didn’t deserve them and slighted some others.

Notwithstanding his actions since leaving office, as Vermont’s governor, Howard Dean consistently earned an “A” from the NRA because he never supported any gun control measures in the state. But when, during his final campaign, arch conservative Ruth Dwyer ran against him, “orange cards” went out in her favor several weeks before the election and only in the final couple days did the NRA also mail out favorable postcards for Dean. I believe they actually didn’t endorse anyone in that race, either, though my memory is subject to being wrong.

Getting back to Romney, last February I wrote:

Romney’s been a hunter all his life. Well, okay, when he was a boy he shot some rabbits.

There’s a gun in one of his homes but it isn’t his.

He supports the NRA except for their position on gun rights.

By-golly, though, he’s now taken out a lifetime NRA membership just in time for the republican primaries.

He’s a hypocrite who will say anything to get elected. That pretty much puts him in line with most of the other candidates.

His spokesman said, “. . .when he was governor he had the support of the NRA and the Gun Owners Action League in relaxing some of the state’s burdensome licensing regulations.” I’d love to know just what Massachusetts firearm regulations he “relaxed.”