Since the Colorado theater shootings are still fresh in the public consciousness, Romney told CNBC's Larry Kudlow that the timing isn't right for a policy debate on guns.
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"With emotions so high right now, this is really not a time to be talking about the politics associated with what happened in Aurora," Romney told CNBC. "I still believe that the Second Amendment is the right course to preserve and defend and don't believe that new laws are going to make a difference in this type of tragedy."
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, called on Romney and President Obama immediately after the Aurora shootings to speak out on what they would do about guns.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama has no plans to push for new gun legislation in the wake of the rampage last week during the premiere of the new Batman movie that left 12 people dead. That includes a new version of a federal ban on assault weapons that expired during the George W. Bush administration.
As Massachusetts governor in 2004, Romney signed into law an assault weapons ban that was backed by gun owners and gun control advocates. The Massachusetts law banned the AR-15, one of the weapons that police say was used inside the Colorado theater on Friday.
"Where there are opportunities for people of reasonable minds to come together and find common ground, that's the kind of legislation I like," Romney told CNBC. "The idea of one party jamming through something over the objection of the other tends to divide the nation, not make us a more safe and prosperous place."
The full CNBC interview airs at 7 p.m. ET.
