Touring gun factory, Gingrich admits to never owning firearm

Newt Gingrich has been pressing hard to establish himself as a conservative alternative to Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, repeatedly bashing the former governor as a "Massachusetts moderate" and highlighting Romney's support for Democratic candidates in the 1990s.

But Gingrich might have stumbled with conservative New Hampshire voters himself during a tour of the Sturm, Ruger & Co. arms factory, during which the former House Speaker was asked if he personally had ever owned a gun.

Gingrich admitted that he had never owned a firearm, though he reiterated his support for Second Amendment rights.

"No, I actually personally have never owned a gun. I believe in the right to bear arms, and I strongly defend the right to bear arms," Gingrich said, according to Mother Jones.

Gingrich also said that it had been years since he had last fired a weapon.

"It's been a couple years. I can tell you that my grandson just got his .410 for Christmas. Very exciting," Gingrich said.

The issue of gun ownership became a hot-button issue in the last election, when Mike Huckabee challenged Mitt Romney on the issue.

"He still believes in the Brady bill and in a ban on the so-called assault weapons," Huckabee told OneNewsNow in 2008. "[He's] calling himself a lifelong hunter when it turned out he never had a hunting license nor owned a gun."

Romney told NewsMax that he once owned a pistol and hunted small game as a child, but admitted that he did not currently own a gun.

The issue of gun rights also arose in Iowa, where an advocacy group sponsored a robocall alleging Gingrich supported the Brady bill, which instituted waiting periods and background checks for individuals purchasing firearms. Gingrich's campaign has denied that charge and pointed to a high rating the former Speaker earned from the National Rifle Association.

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