Sketch pad was old news, false

Alan Bratburd
Published: November 1, 2008

The Sketch Pad cartoon on page A6 of Tuesday’s paper, besides being almost two months late, contained some falsehoods.

Here’s what Obama actually said in a speech in Lebanon, Virginia on Sept. 9, 2008:

“I just want to be absolutely clear, all right? So I don’t want any misunderstanding, so that when we all go home and you’re talking to your buddies, and they say, ‘Aw, he wants to take my gun away,’ you
heard it here. . . I believe in the Second Amendment. I believe in people’s lawful right to bear arms. I will not take your shotgun away from you. I will not take your rifle away. I won’t take your handgun
away.”

Obama said he was for “common-sense gun-safety laws,” and repeated again, “I am not gonna take your guns away. So, if you wanna find an excuse not to vote for me, don’t use that one, because that
just ain’t true. It just ain’t true!” (Peter Boyer, “The Appalachian Problem.” The New Yorker, Oct. 6 2008)

ALAN BRATBURD

Haymarket