Barack Obama last night tried to quash millions of Americans’ justifiable worry that gun control inevitably leads to gun confiscation. “The way it is described is that we are trying to take away everybody’s guns,” he said. “Our position is consistently mischaracterized.” Don’t believe it. Not for a second. During an interview this week with Glenn Beck, Republican senator and presidential candidate Marco Rubio daftly stated:

“The Second Amendment is not some law we passed. It is in the Constitution. It is a constitutionally protected right. And that means if you’re going to do anything that touches upon it or infringes upon it, you have to pass a very high bar. And they’re not passing that high bar in the things they’re proposing. They are obsessed with gun control, because here’s the truth: If the Left had their way — they’ll never admit this because they don’t have the votes to do it; they don’t have the public support to do it — but if they could confiscate guns, they would. If they could ban people from buying guns, they would.”

Ask yourself this: If the Second Amendment wasn’t codified in our Constitution, would Obama still claim, like he did earlier this week, “I believe” in the right to bear arms?