Opinion

Bullock looking at Montana through the rearview mirror.

Montana – -(AmmoLand.com)- Montana Gov. Steve Bullock's comments came in response Sunday to a question posed to him on CNN's State of The Union.

Host Jake Tapper asked Bullock if he would support an “assault weapons ban, a ban on some forms of semiautomatic weapons.” Bullock answered, “You know, I would, Jake.”

Some people depend for success on being able to fool others – swindlers, con men, fraudsters, and too many political climbers. That applies to Montana's Governor Steve Bullock (D-Montana) who is term-limited in Montana but now grasping at the straws of national office.

In order to get elected to statewide office in Montana, Bullock had to claim enough support for the Second Amendment to fool some swing voters. If he had not successfully asserted support for gun rights, he would not have been elected to any statewide office in Montana.

We are now informed by Bullock himself that he lied to voters to get elected Governor. He has only as much respect for the Second Amendment and the Constitution as is needed to get elected to the next public office on his quest. With his new aspiration to become President, he has abandoned all pretense of supporting the Second Amendment and conveniently argues for wholesale gun control. Bullock's only perspective on Montana at this point is through his rear view mirror.

Eric Sell, Editor-in-Chief of Statehouse Review picks up on this when he opines: “Even though it may result in the end of a future political career for Bullock in the state of Montana, he apparently no longer cares. Bullock is young, affable, ambitious, and sees anything lower than a presidential cabinet-level appointment as beneath him.”

Will Bullock's chameleon antics effect Montana? Probably not. He's political toast here now that he is moved by political convenience to recant the lies he told to get elected in Montana.

A better question may be, will Bullock's opportunistic political philosophy affect the Nation? Maybe. Bullock now has a new audience to fool, and he's good at that. He will talk with conviction about how he may still possess a gun once owned by his great grandfather, and how his ownership of that gun may be respected as long as he keeps it inoperative and government overseers permit. While crafting and telling these new lies, Bullock will be surrounded and protected by government agents carrying exactly the guns Bullock would not allow politically unreliable peasants to have. Bullock will expect these government agents and their swarms of sycophants to stand ready to impose Bullock's new political philosophy on the rest of us, at gunpoint if necessary.

As the old saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Observers on the national stage will do well to know that Bullock has no Montana ethic, shares critical behavior with the common con artist, and will say anything to gain advantage and succeed in his quest for higher office and more power.

That is Bullock's demonstrated legacy from Montana.

Gary Marbut is President of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, the highly successful political advocate for Montana gun owners. Marbut is accepted as an expert in state and federal courts concerning firearms, self defense, and use of force, and is the author of Gun Laws of Montana.