Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, recalling how her father took up arms to defend fellow blacks from racist whites in the segregated South, said Wednesday the constitutional right of Americans to own guns is as important as their rights to free speech and religion.

"We have to be very careful when we start abridging rights that the Founding Fathers thought very important...I also don't think we get to pick and choose from the Constitution...the Second Amendment is as important as the First Amendment."

I have a great deal of admiration and respect for Condoleezza Rice.

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