Palin parents 'sleep with guns' due to threats: BBC

LONDON (AFP) – Chuck and Sally Heath, the parents of US conservative champion Sarah Palin, "sleep with guns" after receiving death threats, a BBC interview revealed.

Speaking at their home in Wasilla, Alaska, the couple claimed that Palin and "her whole family" had been the target of threats.

"One guy from Pennsylvania sent us and other people copies of a gun he'd bought, copies of a receipt for a gun he bought, copies of a one-way ticket to Anchorage," Charles "Chuck" Heath said.

"We kind of laugh it off, we got a restraining order on him, and lo and behold last week he showed up in Anchorage. Fortunately the FBI was on top of it and sent him home.

"Not only Sarah has been threatened but her whole family has been threatened. We sleep with the guns," he added.

The mother of Palin, who was the Republican Party's vice presidential nominee in 2008, expressed frustration at the abuse levelled at her daughter.

"I can't imagine what specifically they would object to, and that's what I would like to hear, and what I imagine Sarah would like to hear," Sarah "Sally" Heath told the BBC.

Speculation is mounting that Palin will run for the right to represent the Republicans in the 2012 presidential race.

The controversial former Alaska governor told the BBC that taking on President Barack Obama would be a mammoth task.

"Obama has already said he's going to rake in and spend one billion dollars in this race, so money is certainly going to be a consideration," she said.

Palin toned down talk about her "maverick" reputation, but admitted that she was unsure whether US voters were "ready for someone a bit unconventional, in terms of a candidate who will call it like she sees it."

The mother-of-five slammed the press, claiming they were spreading false stories about her and her family.

"If I decide to run we know that we have to put up with a lot of the BS that comes from the media," she said.

"Rumours like I didn't know that Africa was a continent, that's still out there, that's a lie. Things like I censored books when I was a mayor up here in Alaska, that's a lie.

"Would you be offended if someone said your child wasn't your child? It's offensive. OK," she added.