I wonder what the reaction would've been had Bush said this
From this article
In West Virginia, Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, gave Kerry a rifle as a gift. Kerry, a self-described gun-owner and hunter, quipped: "I thank you for the gift, but I can't take it to the debate with me."
Actually, it was a shotgun, not a rifle. Still, it's hard to read that line and not come away with the impression that Kerry was "joking" about shooting the President.