Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney opposes all new gun control laws today, but that wasn’t always the case. In 2004, as governor, he signed a permanent assault weapons ban into law in Massachusetts. The law included other elements welcomed by gun-rights supporters, but Mr. Romney defended the assault weapons provision on its own merits.

Associated Press

“I believe the people should have the right to bear arms, but I don’t believe that we have to have assault weapons as part of our personal arsenal,” he said on Fox News in 2004.

The federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004. Today, Mr. Romney’s campaign Web site says no new laws are needed. “Like the majority of Americans, Mitt does not believe that the United States needs additional laws that restrict the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms,” the site says.

The issue is in the news again in the wake of the Colorado rampage that killed 12 people early Friday. One of the guns used by the killer was an AR-15 assault rifle, police said…