Tonight, Barack Obama said, “I have never favored an all-out ban on handguns.” But over on the Campaign Spot, Geraghty noted that Obama voted against a bill in the Illinois state senate that would have had the effect of reversing a ban on handguns enacted in Willmette, Illinois. After the debate, I asked Obama spokesman David Axelrod whether it would be fair to construe that vote as a vote in favor of a handgun ban. His response:
AXELROD: What he said, what he supports, and I think [Sen. Clinton] said she did too, is the right of local governments to enact such legislation…
ME: So because it was just Willmette…
AXELROD: Yes, it wasn’t a statewide ban.
So by “all-out,” Obama meant “statewide,” not “comprehensive and total in some jurisdictions.” Good to know.