Huckabee favors concealed gun policy

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said a concealed handgun carried by a faculty member or student at Virginia Tech might have reduced the toll from Monday's shooting spree by a student.

"If somebody had been able to stop the shooter before he was able to kill that many people, there may not have been that many," the former Arkansas governor said Thursday in an interview with radio station KUAR at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in response to a question about carrying concealed weapons.

A longtime hunter, Huckabee has spoken publicly before about his support for concealed-weapon permits — and his own license to carry.

Cho Seung-Hui, 23, killed 32 people Monday on the Virginia Tech campus before taking his own life.

Huckabee stressed that a renewed debate over gun control is not the proper reaction to the Virginia Tech deaths. He said the nation instead should discuss mental health issues — particularly how an obviously sick young man managed to slip through the cracks.

"What was really most troubling about this situation was not just his choice of mayhem in terms of a weapon, but more disturbing was the fact that here was a clearly mentally person who was exhibiting many, many signs and he still slipped through the system and was able to do this," Huckabee told the radio station by telephone from New Hampshire, where he is campaigning.

Huckabee cautioned against using tragedy as a springboard to "take away" the rights of others.

___

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Friday that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should be ousted if he interfered with a prosecution.

The former Massachusetts governor, however, stopped short of calling for Gonzales' resignation, saying not enough details were known about the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

"If he removed someone to interfere with the prosecution or an intended prosecution then that would be wrong and would justify his removal," Romney said after a campaign event in eastern Iowa. "A president can change people for any reason he wants but interfering with a prosecution would be wrong."

Many Democrats have called for Gonzales to step down, and some Republicans have done the same. Romney recommended lawmakers not be hasty in passing judgment.

"I wouldn't convict until I heard the witnesses and the evidence and that's something which is an ongoing process," he said.

Romney made his remarks after speaking before about 400 people at a luncheon. He repeatedly said change was needed in Washington, but he expressed support for some Bush administration policies and hailed the president's strategy in Iraq — from the initial invasion to the latest troop increase.

"Right now the president's posture and my position on Iraq may not be the most popular," he said. "And I understand that, but that goes with the territory with doing what you believe is the right thing."

___

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson became the latest Democratic presidential candidate Friday to call for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign, saying he's become a burden to the Justice Department.

"After reviewing the attorney general's behavior, I must reluctantly conclude that new leadership is needed," Richardson said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It's time for him to go."

The call is significant because Gonzales, a fellow Hispanic, has enjoyed Richardson's support to this point. But Richardson said the questions that have been raised about the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys, and the role that Gonzales played in those firings, have effectively ended his ability to run the agency.

"He's lost his ability to lead," Richardson said, adding that he watched Gonzales' testimony before a Senate committee and found his explanations of his activities unconvincing. Gonzales needed a clear and cogent explanation of his actions, and that didn't happen, Richardson said.

"What bothered me was his couching his explanations," said Richardson. "It's important that he be fully open."

___

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Republican Rudy Giuliani received a warm introduction from former President George H.W. Bush on Friday as the presidential candidate delivered a speech on combatting terrorism.

Bush, whose presidential library is on the Texas A&M campus, introduced Giuliani, praising his handling of events in New York City after the terrorist attacks.

"It was in his courage under fire starting the morning of Sept. 11 that the world saw the best of Rudy Giuliani," the elder Bush said. "We saw a genuine leader."

Giuliani returned the praise, calling the former president a great leader.

Speaking before about 2,500 people, Giuliani said the United States has sought to bring the world together through increased economic opportunities and democracy.

"Before that vision can be a reality, we're going to have to win the war on terror, or as I call it, the terrorists' war on us," he said. "It's the greatest challenge of our generation."

He reiterated his support for the current President Bush's handling of the war on terror and the conflict in Iraq, saying both are examples of how the country has gone on the offensive in trying to defeat terrorism.

"There is no excuse any longer (after Sept. 11) to go back on defense," he said. "The first person to get it was President Bush. He understands the true nature of what we face."

Giuliani also called on the country to support the use of the Patriot Act as well as aggressive but legal surveillance and interrogations to fight terrorism.

___

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Leaf peepers, yes. Political junkies, not so fast.

A plan to promote the New Hampshire primary as a tourist attraction has been all but abandoned after the primary's fiercest protector raised concerns about tarnishing the state's political tradition.

"The presidential primary was not created for an economic benefit for this state," Secretary of State Bill Gardner said Thursday. "People can come take a look at our leaves — that can be encouraged — but the primary is not the same."

Until he got a call from a reporter, Gardner was unaware of the marketing campaign the state Division of Travel and Tourism had planned to roll out early next month. Imagining ads beckoning visitors to come do their tax-free holiday shopping while they checked out the candidates, he quickly arranged to meet tourism official Vicki Cimino to lay out his objections.

"I was pretty blunt with her," he said.

With other states moving up their primaries to share some of the spotlight on New Hampshire, Gardner said he doesn't want to promote the idea the primary is a cash cow, which he said it isn't.

"Some people accuse of us being so adamant about protecting it because we do it for the money," Gardner said. "That's not why we do it."

___

Associated Press Writers Mike Glover in Des Moines, Iowa, Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H., Juan A. Lozano in College Station, Texas, and Nafeesa Syeed in Coralville, Iowa, contributed to this report.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070420/ap_on_el_pr/on_the2008_trail [link]