McCain says Obama and Clinton threaten gun rights

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain warned gun owners on Friday that his Democratic opponents Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would threaten their right to bear arms, as he sought to rally conservatives' support in the November election.

The right to bear arms in the Constitution's second amendment is considered sacred by many U.S. gun owners. Both Obama and Clinton tout their support for it, although they also say ways must be found to keep guns from falling into the hands of criminals or those who are mentally ill.

But the Arizona senator accused the two Democrats of giving only "theoretical" support to the second amendment.

"They claim to support hunters and gun owners. But just because they don't talk about gun control doesn't mean they won't support gun control," McCain told a convention of the National Rifle Association.

"If either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama is elected president, the rights of law-abiding gun owners will be at risk. They have both voted as senators to ban guns or ban ammunition or to allow gun makers to be sued out of existence," he said.

Obama, an Illinois senator and the front-runner in the battle for the Democratic nomination to run against McCain in November, countered by accusing him of trying to whip up fear about his positions and using the "same playbook" from other elections.

"I think people have the right to lawfully bear arms. I do believe that there is nothing inconsistent with also saying that we can institute some common-sense gun laws so that we don't have kids being shot on the streets of cities like Chicago," Obama said while campaigning in South Dakota.

BACKGROUND CHECKS

Reasonable gun laws would include strong background checks of those who sought to buy weapons and tracing guns back to "unscrupulous" gun dealers who sold them to people who shouldn't be able to get them, Obama said.

The influential gun rights organization's convention drew some 70,000 people and its panel of speakers included other well-known Republicans, including former presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee.

Huckabee, interrupted by a loud crash as he spoke, joked that the noise was Obama falling off a chair as he dodged a gun aimed at him. "That was Barack Obama. He just tripped off a chair. He was getting ready to speak and somebody aimed a gun at him, and he dove for the floor," Huckabee said.

The former Arkansas governor later apologized, saying it was an "offhand remark that was in no way intended to offend or disparage Senator Obama."

McCain's appearance was part of his attempt to shore up support among the conservative base of his party.

McCain has differed from the National Rifle Association on some issues, said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, who cited McCain's support for requiring background checks for people who make purchases at gun shows.

"That's one of the disagreements we've had," LaPierre told the Louisville Courier-Journal. "On the other hand, Senator McCain is the only one in the race that has a pro-gun record of any kind."

To underscore his support for gun rights, McCain stopped in a gun store in West Virginia. But the senator, who does not hunt, walked past the rifles and picked up a fishing pole instead.

"I'm very well versed in the use of firearms. I carried a firearm in combat. I've used them in the past. I'm just not a hunter," said McCain, who served as a Navy pilot in the Vietnam War and is a former prisoner of war.

(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, editing by Chris Wilson)