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Republican John McCain: Believes in protecting individual Second Amendment rights; government should prosecute criminals to the fullest instead of restricting law-abiding citizens; gun manufacturers should not be liable for crimes committed with guns by third parties.

Democrat Barack Obama: Will protect the rights of law-abiding citizens to purchase and use guns; opposes legislation taking liability from gun manufacturers.

Both candidates: Oppose taking guns from citizens during emergency situations; support that the Supreme Court overturned Washington, D.C.'s gun ban, although Obama supports ''common sense laws,'' including regulations on purchasing at gun shows.

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Walter Lysinger, who spent about a dozen years in the U.S. Army and a half-dozen as president of the Bellwood Sportsmen's Club, believes ''active gun people'' are polite and well-mannered.

''I don't know anybody who would pull a gun on me if they were mad at me,'' he said. ''I've been around guns, and I'm a firm believer in teaching young people about guns.''

Some of those in Pennsylvania on various sides of how heavily to regulate gun ownership and use don't disagree on Americans' constitutional right to own and use them.

Both presidential candidates' campaigns formed, among other focus groups, committees of sportsmen in Pennsylvania. The groups aim to take the candidates' message to hunters and anglers. Both also say they want to protect Americans' Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

At the state level, some Pennsylvania lawmakers have proposed more stringent laws, including limiting handgun purchases to one per month and penalizing those who don't report a lost or stolen weapon. Those bills have stalled.

Some, Lysinger included, believe gun violence is not a Pennsylvania problem, but a Philadelphia problem.

According to firearm injury and death statistics from the state Department of Health and Health Care Cost Containment Council, more than half of gun-related hospitalizations in Pennsylvania were in Philadelphia County from 2001-03, 2,566 out of 4,777. More than a quarter of gun-related deaths in Pennsylvania were in Philadelphia County, 960 out of 3,588.

Daniel Pehrson, president of the Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association, lives in Philadelphia and said he sees gun charges dropped on criminals. The group's stance calls for enforcement of current law.

''I think I can speak for most, if not all, gun owners when I say we find it ridiculous when people call for more laws when they can't even be bothered to enforce the hundreds of pages of ones they already have.''

Lysinger said if a criminal wants to carry a gun, it doesn't matter what the law states.

''If guns were the whole answer, nobody would be stabbed or poisoned,'' he said. ''Stolen guns can be a problem and the less guns people own, the less chance for people to break in and steal it. That's true of a television set or whatever. You have to secure your belongings; that includes guns.''

Barbara Montgomery is president of Pennsylvania's Million Mom March chapters, which work with local coalitions to educate and advocate gun violence prevention. She points to the number of gun-related deaths each year.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, guns have resulted in, on average, more than 32,000 U.S. deaths each year between 1970 and 2002, the second leading cause of death after car crashes.

Montgomery emphasizes the group's focus on legal gun ownership, and doesn't want to eliminate anyone's rights. She said they aim to educate and support ''sensible legislation'' addressing the issue. The latter includes the state bill on reporting lost or stolen guns.

''If your car is stolen, you report it,'' she said. ''If someone breaks into your house, you report it. No one is doing drive-by knifings with your silverware. It's just common sense. If you have a lethal weapon in your home and it's stolen, you report it.''

Montgomery said she realizes violence won't stop if government outlaws guns, but wants to help stop gun deaths, especially children. Her daughter's good friend was shot and killed at age 14 in a Philadelphia suburb.

''I'm just tired of burying kids,'' she said. ''This is not an urban problem. It's just like the movies. It's coming to a neighborhood near you.''

The Supreme Court ruled this summer that Washington, D.C., can't ban its residents from owning handguns. While John McCain called it a ''landmark victory'' for Second Amendment rights, Barack Obama said he identifies ''with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children'' from gun violence.

McCain's other views on the gun issue include the ''sacred duty'' to protect the individual right, and that government has the responsibility to prosecute criminals to the fullest, instead of restricting law-abiding citizens. According to McCain's campaign Web site, ''Law-abiding citizens should not be asked to give up their rights because of criminals - criminals who ignore gun control laws anyway.''

McCain opposes taking firearms from private citizens, especially during emergencies. He does not believe gun manufacturers should be liable for crimes committed with firearms by third parties and voted for a bill in 2005 prohibiting such liability. Obama opposed that bill.

Obama says he will protect the rights of hunters and other law-abiding citizens to ''purchase, own, transport and use guns.'' Campaign literature states Obama ''respects the right of lawful gun owners to hunt, target shoot and use guns to protect their families.''

In agreement with McCain, Obama does not support the federal government taking legally-obtained guns during an emergency. Both senators in July 2006 voted in favor of an amendment prohibiting such confiscations.

Centre County Democratic state Rep. Scott Conklin, a member of Obama's sportsmen committee, agrees with that vote.

''That was an important vote to me,'' he said. ''I believe our forefathers had great vision in giving us the right to bear arms.''