Bubba's on target: Clinton says Obama backers need to understand, respect rural gun culture

President Obama's supporters should not dismiss pro-gun arguments or sneer at gun-rights advocates, former President Bill Clinton warned a group of Obama's financial backers today at a private meeting attended by a reporter from Politico. (Associated Press photo)

“A lot of these people live in a world very different from the world lived in by the people proposing these things,” said Clinton, who was governor of Arkansas for more than a decade before serving as president from 1993 to 2001. “A lot of these people … all they’ve got is their hunting and their fishing. Or they’re living in a place where they don’t have much police presence. Or they’ve been listening to this stuff for so long that they believe it all.”

"Clinton dedicated a substantial portion of his 40-minute address before a joint meeting of the Obama National Finance Committee and a group of business leaders to the issue of guns and gun control," reporter Byron Tau writes. "Clinton warned the issue of guns has a special emotional resonance in many rural states — and simply dismissing pro-gun arguments is counterproductive." So is "looking down your nose at them," he warned.

National polls show support for several gun measures Obama wants Congress to pass, but Clinton cautioned that what matters is the strength of feeling about the issues: “They are meaningless if they’re not voting issues.” (Read more)