Sen. Manchin: Ad shooting cap-and-trade bill showed ‘responsible’ gun use

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) does not regret the 2010 political ad that showed him firing a rifle shot through a mock copy of cap-and-trade legislation, according to a press account.

Manchin has called for new federal action to control gun violence following Friday’s mass-murder of young children in Newtown, Conn.

But on a press call Monday, Manchin said the ad showing him using a single shell with a hunting rifle to attack climate legislation was an example of responsible gun use, The State Journal reports.

“Let me just say what we did at that time and the way we used it was in the most responsible manner,” he said on the Dec. 17 press call, according to the West Virginia paper. 

“I didn't do it to do anything but show you can use guns in a responsible manner. I'm a proud gun owner and I used it in a responsible manner. I didn't do it to glorify anything,” he said.

The ad touted his endorsement by the National Rifle Association.

Manchin, the former governor of the state where coal is a major industry, cut the ad when he was running to replace the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.). 

He strongly opposes bills to cap greenhouse gases and recent federal rules imposing curbs on other emissions from coal-fired power plants.

“If you look at the rifle I was using, I had one shell, it was a deer rifle, a .270,” Manchin said Monday. “It's something most West Virginians have. I used it in the most responsible manner.”

Manchin is among several Democratic defenders of gun rights to signal a new openness to legislative restrictions in the wake of the school shootings in Newtown.

He said the shooting rampage should cause every member of Congress to reconsider the legality of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips.

---