"My favorite gun is the M-16 that saved my life and that of my crew in Vietnam," Kerry tells Outdoor Life in its October issue. "I don't own one of those now, but one of my reminders of my service is a Communist Chinese assault rifle."

The Kerry campaign stonewalled questions on their candidate's illegal gun stash, with spokesman Michael Meehan telling the New York Times only that his boss was a registered gun owner in Massachusetts.

Meehan said that Kerry had been unable to respond to questions about his banned weapon because his voice was too hoarse. The Kerry aide refused to return follow-up calls.

"It's O.K. for John Kerry to own these kinds of firearms, but it's not O.K. for John Q. Public?" complained National Rifle Association spokesman Andrew Arulanandam, in an interview with the Times.

"He certainly owes people an explanation as to why there's a double standard," Arulanandam added, noting that if the top Democrat brought his illegal assault rifle home from the war as a souvenir he could be subject to court-martial.

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