So are New Yorkers criminals, or mentally ill?

I don't mean to be rude, but when I see a (sort of) presidential candidate make the following statement, I have to wonder.

"What I came out for was the New York law," Clinton said in a noon conference call with Montana press Friday. "I don’t think there is any contradiction between defending Second Amendment rights and trying to keep guns out of the hands of" criminals and the mentally ill.

Clinton said that as part of an assurance to Montana residents that she does not advocate a national system of handgun registration and licensing. So she only favors making acquisition of firearms more difficult in New York as part of her plan to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill? Is there a greater concentration of such people there (a fair question, perhaps, considering the kinds of people they seem to prefer to elect for public office there)?

By the way, she certainly has advocated a national system of licensing and registration.

Hillary Clinton renews call for gun licensing and registration

NEW YORK (CNN) -- U.S. Senate candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton renewed her call for tougher gun control legislation on Tuesday before an audience of newspaper publishers.

"We have to do more to stand up to those who refuse to believe the reality that guns do kill and that common-sense gun measures can make a difference," Mrs. Clinton said during a speech to the Newspaper Association of America's annual convention in New York.

"I believe we need a comprehensive plan to stop gun violence, and it is one of the reasons I am running for the Senate," the first lady said.

Mrs. Clinton, who is running for the seat of retiring Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-New York), added that she supports proposals that would require the licensing and registering of all new handguns purchased in the United States.

She was, obviously, running for the United States Senate, rather than the New York state Senate, and the U.S. Senate tends not to pass laws specific to New York. Of course, that was back in 2000, and attitudes can change in 8 years.

So how about something more recent (the Democratic presidential debate in Nevada early this year recent enough)?

MODERATOR TIM RUSSERT: Sen. Clinton, when you ran for the Senate in 2000, you said that everyone who wishes to purchase a gun should have a license, and that every handgun sale or transfer should be registered in a national registry. Will you try to implement such a plan?

HILLARY CLINTON: Well, I am against illegal guns, and illegal guns are the cause of so much death and injury in our country. I also am a political realist and I understand that the political winds are very powerful against doing enough to try to get guns off the street, get them out of the hands of young people.

Is it just me, or does that seem to imply that not implementing a national licensing and registration system would not be "doing enough to try to get guns off the street, get them out of the hands of young people"?

So how about it, Hillary--whom are you trying to disarm, criminals and the mentally ill, New Yorkers--or all of us?