On gun control, as on most issues, Mitt Romney is a double-talking wimp who contradicts his own prior views. Even if he personally believed in laws against civilian access to assault weapons, he would toe the NRA line out of fear that the offending the gun-nut lobby might have grim consequences for him on Election Day. Wouldn’t it be refreshing, and inspiring, if Barack Obama’s stated views on gun control were in striking contrast to those of Mittens?

But they’re not, of course:

President Barack Obama on Wednesday night vowed to do everything he could to prevent “not just of gun violence but violence at every level” in the wake of the Colorado theater mass shooting.

“I think we recognize the traditions of gun ownership that passed on from generation to generation, that hunting and shooting are part of a cherished national heritage,” he said in New Orleans at the Urban League Convention.

“But I also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals. That they belong on the battlefield of war, not on the streets of our cities.”

This is as close as Obama is likely to come to calling for stricter gun control laws. Another profile in courage from our commander-in-chief.