Did Dr. Ben Carson flip-flop on the 2nd Amendment?

Did Dr. Ben Carson flip-flop on his stance concerning the 2nd Amendment because of a potential run for the presidency in 2016?

During an interview with Glenn Beck on February 28, 2013, Carson certainly sent a mixed message concerning his views on the 2nd Amendment.

Beck: "Do I have a right to own a semi-automatic weapon?"

Carson: “It depends on where you live. If you live in the midst of a lot of people, and I’m afraid that semi-automatic weapon is going to fall into the hands of a crazy person, I would rather you not have it.

Carson went on to say that if someone lived "out in the country somewhere by yourself" and wants to own a semi-automatic weapon, he has "no problem with that."

[caption id="attachment_37924" align="alignright" width="145"] Vernon Robinson[/caption]

During an interview with Ken McClendon (The Exceptional Conservative Show) and Ann Ubelis (host of Southern Sense) at the 2015 South Carolina Tea Party Coalition event in Myrdal Beach this past weekend, Vernon Robinson, Campaign Director for RunBenRun.org said that Carson would have to repudiate the comments made to Beck.

"Quite frankly, the Glenn Beck interview where some people felt that he was saying that the 2nd Amendment is conditioned geographically has to be repudiated.

"If he wants to be the nominee of the Republican Party, he has to go back on the Glenn Beck show and say that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to have a good guy with a gun. And that the reason that people need a concealed gun permit, because it is too heavy to carry a policeman around with them.

"I am a lifetime NRA member. I own an AR-15 in an urban area with lots of ammunition. And I need to have my AR-15 because we don't know whether its ISIS or left-wing crazies or just the brother down the block that wants to hit me in the head, I need to be able to shoot back. And that has to be addressed.

"I've talked to 2nd Amendment guys and they like where Ben Carson is, but still we have to go and put the Glenn Beck interview to bed," Robinson said.

McClenton then asked Robinson if Carson was flip-flopping concerning his original 2nd Amendment comments mad during the Beck interview.

"Well I think that people would accept the explanation that he is a quick study and that he hasn't been familiar with some of the nuances of the 2nd Amendment. but since he is a quick study and is a bright guy, when you present him the evidence of John Lotts' books that crime was going down in Chicago until they limited handguns. In which case, the criminals had handguns and they started shooting up the citizens and killing them and folks will accept that.

"Of course, he did have a number of his classmates killed with firearms and he saw a lot of folks killed and wounded with firearms when he was doing the rotations as an intern, when he was doing the ER rotation he saw a lot of that.

"I think that the bottom line is most 2nd Amendment guys want to make sure a candidate for public office understands the reason for the 2nd Amendment is not hunting, it's not even shooting the guy heading into your house. It is to defend the country from invasion and tyranny. And he believes that he articulates that clearly.

"I believe the 2nd Amendment guys will know this, besides my fellow 2nd Amendment guys out there do not want Hillary Clinton to be President of the United Sates, which what is going to happen if they do not nominate Dr. Carson," Robinson said.

Here is the audio of Robinson's comments:

[audio mp3="http://thepunditpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/TECS-and-SSENSE.VernonRobinson.BenCarson.2a.mp3"][/audio]

Here is the audio of the full interview with Robinson:

[audio mp3="http://thepunditpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Southern-Sense-and-TEC-Vernon-Robinson-INterview-complete.mp3"][/audio]

Shortly after the 2013 Beck interview, Carson began to walk back his original remarks on the 2nd Amendment.

“There seemed to be group of people—I don’t know exactly who they are—who seize upon one part of something that I said. Sometimes people just hear one little thing and they don’t hear anything else.

“Perhaps I didn’t convey it appropriately. I wanted to convey that, you know, I’ve lived in urban areas. I’ve worked in urban areas. I’ve seen a lot of carnage, and I’d prefer a situation where the kinds of weapons that create that kind of carnage don’t fall to the hands of criminal elements or insane people.

"But that is secondary to the desire to always defend the 2nd Amendment," Carson said at the time.

Carson also went on to say that "under no circumstances” would he “allow a bureaucrat to remove any law-abiding citizen’s rights for any kind of weapon that they want to protect themselves.”

While guest hosting for Sean Hannity on May 23, 2014, Carson again tried to clarify his remarks to a caller:

Caller: "I’ve heard some conflicting things from people and I’m curious what your thoughts are on the Second Amendment and what this administration is doing to gut it, right now?”

Carson: “Well, it’s always good to hear it from the horse’s mouth. First of all, I am a very strong believer in the Second Amendment.

"The Second Amendment is there for a very good reason, and I think our Founding Fathers were very wise to recognize that the populace could be a tremendous aid to the military. They could form their own militia; they would be a tremendous deterrent for invasion.

“But the real reason that they put it there is recognizing that there could come a time when our government itself could go off the rail, and could try to dominate the people, and the people would need a mechanism of defense for themselves. I would never allow the Second Amendment to be jeopardized.

“I do believe that it is necessary for people to begin to have rational discussions about things – what kinds of weapons. You know, I don’t think tanks, for instance, would be a very good thing to be keeping in your garage. But you certainly should have access to any kind of weapon that you want for recreational purposes or to protect yourself. There really shouldn’t be a lot of restrictions on that.

“You do need to have a discussion about how we deal with situations where there is a tremendous amount of crime and easy access to the kinds of weapons that can create a lot of damage quickly. But that needs to be done in context of always preserving Second Amendment rights.

Carson has also changed his view on the topic of gun registration because of "sinister internal forces."

"I used to think they needed to be registered, but if you register them they just come and find you and take your guns.

"I would never advocate anything to interfere with Second Amendment rights; however, I do think we have to be intelligent and address situations where people with AK-47s are mowing people down.

"We need to discuss, 'Is there something we can do?' We have to keep in mind that law-abiding American citizens absolutely should have gun rights," Carson said.

So, I ask all of our readers, do you think Carson changed his views on the 2nd Amendment in an attempt to improve his chances and better appeal to the conservative base of the GOP in anticipation of a potential presidential bid in 2016?