Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

The Hill says in a new story posted Monday night that "anti-gun control groups" are "sure to be back on the defensive after yesterday’s massacre at Virginia Tech," and reports that such groups "are having a hard time solidly backing any of the top-tier Republican presidential candidates.

The only 2008 presidential candidates who have earned solid backing from anti-gun control groups are a handful of Republicans struggling to get their campaigns off the ground - and one Democrat. The first tier of Republican candidates, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, all have been inconsistent on the issues near and dear to gun owners’ hearts, activists said.

Only Republican Reps. Ron Paul (Texas), Duncan Hunter (Calif.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, as well as Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson (N.M.), have not been faulted by such groups.

But of course anti-gun control groups should not be on the defensive because of the Virginia Tech massacre. They should go on offense, politically, against the flawed and fatal vision of the gun-control lobby.

After all, the Virginia Tech campus was, by law and regulation, a "gun-free zone," in which it was illegal for anyone other than law enforcement to go armed. In other words, it was exactly the kind of place that the gun-control lobby dreams of.

The result: 32 people gunned down by a criminal who ignored the "gun-free zone" created by gun-control lobby and went on a murderous rampage unchecked for more than two hours, shooting with little fear of anyone shooting back.

The Hill's story follows the story line so often pushed by liberal elites after such horrific events - that gun violence proves we need more gun control. Liberals used the Columbine tragedy to push for greater restrictions on guns even though a gun in the right hands that day would have saved lives and you can bet money most of the Democrats running for president will soon be using the Virginia Tech massacre to argue for greater gun restrictions.

Republican candidates with courage will repudiate such foolishness.