In December 2007, still campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, Romney summed up his general position on gun control at that time as: "we should check on the backgrounds of people who are trying to purchase guns. We also should keep weapons of unusual lethality from being on the street. And finally, we should go after people who use guns in the commission of crimes or illegally, but we should not interfere with the right of law-abiding citizens to own guns either for their own personal protection or hunting or any other lawful purpose." He also said that, had it come before him as president, he would have signed a renewal of the federal assault weapons ban that had expired. The following month, during a presidential primary debate, he noted that the federal assault weapons ban that he would have signed as president had failed in Congress, and he insisted that he would not support any "new" gun control legislation: "I do not believe we need new legislation. I do not support any new legislation of an assault weapon ban nature, including that against semiautomatic weapons. I instead believe that we have laws in place that if they're implemented and enforced, will provide the protection and the safety of the American people."