CINCINNATI, OH– Sen. John McCain praised the Supreme Court ruling striking down the D.C. gun ban Thursday, also taking a shot at Obama’s evolving position on the issue.

“(I) saw the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Second Amendment, and obviously I am very pleased about that decision,” McCain said as he opened quick Q and A session with reporters aboard his Straight Talk bus this morning. He added that he had filed an amicus brief on the case along with a group of fellow Senators.

Asked about the Obama’s recent reversal on the issue–the Democrat now supports the ruling despite calling the ban constitutional last year–McCain said Obama’s evolution on gun ownership is part of a trend.

“All I can say is, it’s a one in a long series of reversals of positions. In a few days he has gone from opposing nuclear power to not a proponent to willing to explore,” McCain said. “Whether it be on his pledge on public financing, or his position on the second amendment, or any other issues he is changing his positions. So it’s not surprising.”

Obama stood by his support for the DC gun ban when asked about it in an interview with WJLA (ABC 7) in February. “There is nothing wrong with a community saying we are going to take those illegal handguns off the streets, we are going to trace more effectively, how these guns are ending up on the streets, to unscrupulous gun dealers, who often times are selling to straw purchasers. And cracking down on the various loopholes that exist in terms of background checks for children, the mentally ill. Those are all approaches that I think the average gun owner would actually support,” Obama said. But today, the IL Senator expressed some support for the decision during an interview with the Fox Business Network.

The GOPer added that while it is fine by him for a politician to change positions if conditions change but that Obama has been shifting his views for political reasons.

“If conditions change that argue for people’s change in policies (that is fine), but on fundamental issues such as second amendment, such as a public pledge, repeated over and over, which he was the case in public financing, then I think that’s very different,” McCain added.

Barack Obama has not yet reacted to this morning’s Supreme Court decision striking down the 36 year ban on handgun ownership in the District of Columbia, focused as he is on an economic competitiveness summit currently in progress in Pittsburgh. But he was asked about his thoughts on the case during a press conference yesterday in Chicago, saying that he sees the Second Amendment as granting an individual right to bear arms, but that local governments should have the right to impose common sense restrictions on gun ownership.

“What I’ve said is that I’m a strong supporter of the second amendment. But I do not think that that precludes local governments being able to provide some common sense gun laws that keep guns out of the hands of gang bangers or children, that local jurisdictions are going to have different sets of problems, and that this is a very fact intensive decision that has to be made,” he said. “But I do think that the second amendment is an individual right. So what I’d like to do is wait and see how the Supreme Court comes down and evaluate the actual reasoning in the case, to see how broad or narrow the decision’s going to be.”

The Obama campaign is already backtracking from last year’s declarative statement supporting the handgun law (”Obama believes the D.C. handgun law is constitutional”), calling it “inartful.”

UPDATE: in an actual REaction, Obama releases a qualified (hopefully more artful) statement of support for the ruling.

“I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective safety measures.  The Supreme Court has now endorsed that view, and while it ruled that the D.C. gun ban went too far, Justice Scalia himself acknowledged that this right is not absolute and subject to reasonable regulations enacted by local communities to keep their streets safe.  Today’s ruling, the first clear statement on this issue in 127 years, will provide much-needed guidance to local jurisdictions across the country.

“As President, I will uphold the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun-owners, hunters, and sportsmen.  I know that what works in Chicago may not work in Cheyenne.  We can work together to enact common-sense laws, like closing the gun show loophole and improving our background check system, so that guns do not fall into the hands of terrorists or criminals.  Today’s decision reinforces that if we act responsibly, we can both protect the constitutional right to bear arms and keep our communities and our children safe.

Click to listen to my report:

done