WASHINGTON — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand vigorously championed Americans’ right to carry high-powered guns — before she turned against them.
Since the Newtown massacre, the senator has been at the forefront of the national campaign demanding stricter gun-control laws — including her own legislation to prevent gun trafficking.
It’s quite the conversion for a former upstate congresswoman who earned an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association.
When she represented a more conservative Albany-area district, she boasted of keeping two rifles under her bed. That was before her 2009 Senate appointment.
More recently, she’s favored an assault-weapon ban and closing a gun-show loophole that allows gun sales without background checks.
Advocates for gun rights say she’s sold her soul for political gain.
“I think gun owners probably view her in ways they view Mitt Romney. How do you trust someone when they change their stance and politics?” said Richard Feldman, head of the Independent Firearms Owners Association.
Her office noted that her old district “did not [have] the same issues of gang and gun violence” as other parts of the state.