Kerry Blames Aides in Assault Rifle Flap

Kerry Blames Aides in Assault Rifle Flap

John Kerry is denying he ever told a magazine
interviewer that he owned a Communist Chinese assault
rifle, blaming the comment instead on campaign aides
who, he insists, made the story up.

"My favorite gun is the M-16 that saved my life and
that of my crew in Vietnam," Kerry is quoted as saying
in the October issue of Outdoor Life. "I don't own one
of those now, but one of my reminders of my service is
a Communist Chinese assault rifle." It turns out,
however, that the gun quotes weren't Kerry's at all -
or so he maintains, claiming now that those words were
actually written by his staff, who never checked with
him.

Kerry aide Michael Meehan explained to the New York
Times that his boss's interview with the sports
magazine consisted of a four-page written account of
his hunting experience, which, the Times noted,
included "long conversational answers using
first-person pronouns."

Meehan said Kerry's Chinese assault rifle was actually
a single-bolt-action military rifle that he "keeps as
a relic" and has never fired.

If it's a relic he took home from Vietnam, however,
the top Democrat may still not be off the hook.

"If Kerry brought the gun home from the war as a
souvenir he could be subject to court-martial," NRA
spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told the Times.

So, why did Kerry staffers impersonate Kerry for the
interview? And how did they know that he had saved a
gun - relic or no - from his Vietnam days?

Meehan didn't say.

A spokesman for Outdoor Life did not respond to a
Times request for comment.