Once again, Bill must tell us about how he shot a can with a rifle when he was a kid, and thus that excuses all the stuff he tries to pull over us.
And he supports our right to own trigger locked handguns for self-defense! I wonder if the Secret Service agents, who will protect Mr. Clinton for the rest of his life, are required to put locks on their high capacity guns?
Caught in the Gun Culture
Clinton on his and Al Gore's battle with the NRA
May 15, 2000; EDT:00 a.m. EDT
As the two main presidential candidates traded barbs over gun control last
week, President Clinton spoke to NEWSWEEK's Debra Rosenberg and
Matt Bai in the Oval Office. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: Do you think the Million Mom March will have any
real impact on the political landscape? And is there any chance that
you might march to show your support?
CLINTON: Well, I haven't decided. We're going to talk to the organizers
and see what I can do to be helpful. I think that what they want it to be is an
expression of citizen support, and they want it to be as non-political as
possible, since they want to show that there are Democrats and Republicans
and Independents, they're from all over the country and from all different
kinds of backgrounds. I think it's a very good thing to do, and I certainly
support them coming here ... So I think if the Million Mom March shows
people all over America this is becoming a voting issue for citizens who care
about the safety of their children and the future of their country, and that they
know—they're quite well aware now that it's not a gun-control issue in the
sense of keeping guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens, it's about gun
safety, then I think it can have a major, major impact.
NEWSWEEK: Do you personally think it makes sense for people to
have handguns in their homes for self-defense? Is that a constitutional
right?
First of all, I do think that they have a right to do it, and a lot of people have
guns ... But if they do, they need to have child safety locks on the guns and
they need to have them put in a place where kids can't get to them. That's
what I think is the most important thing about that. I don't doubt that there are
instances where people who are well-trained and disciplined and know how
to use their firearms may have made themselves safer. But I think that there
also a lot of instances where, again, on the accidental death rate alone, where
it's been a bigger problem. So the key thing is people who decide that they
want to or need to have handguns in their homes should, first of all, know how
to use them in a safe and responsible way; and then should make sure they're
equipped with the child safety devices and put away where kids can't find
them.
NEWSWEEK: When he was in the Senate, the vice president
frequently voted along with the NRA. Do you think that he's the best
messenger now for gun control?
I do ... Look, none of us who came out of this culture —that's one of the
reasons they're so opposed to us, because we came out of that culture. I tell
everybody, I still remember the first time I shot a can off a fence post when I
was 12 years old out in the country, with a .22. I came out of that culture.
You know, I don't have a perfect record on this. In 1982, when I was running
for reelection as governor and I was trying to become the first governor in the
history of my state ever to win, lose and win again, I got a questionnaire that
said, are you for a three-day waiting period, and I said, sure, because it made
sense to me, 18 years ago. I said, sure. And it stirred up the darndest
firestorm you ever heard. All of a sudden there were images that I was going
to go have the state police go in people's houses and take their guns away
from them. And I took a dive on it. I walked away from it. I think it's
important to be blunt here. I felt this heat. But I always felt bad about it
because I realized that we were caught in a culture where labels were more
important than facts and reality...
My view of this is totally different from theirs. If I were running the NRA I
would be out promoting safety of gun ownership, I'd be promoting these
safety measures, I'd be for all these bills in the Congress. And I'd say as long
as nobody interferes with hunting or sports shooting or the right of Americans
to have guns for their own safety, I'm for anything that makes this a safer
country. That's the position I'd be in ... But they can do it and win with it
because people are scared of them and because they can use the words "gun
control." And if you take any of these measures, we'll win them by 20 to 30
points or more. But if you use the words, do we need more gun control, that
turns it into about a—it's a much closer issue, five or six points. And then the
intensity feeling on their side gives them a political victory. And that's what's
going on...
Al Gore is a good messenger is because he spent a lot of his life growing up in
Carthage, Tennessee and he's been around this culture all his life and he ought
to be able to effectively communicate that we're not trying to stop anybody
from hunting or sports shooting or even protecting themselves; but we are
trying to increase the safety of our children and keep guns out of the hands of
criminals and kids. That's the message we have to stay at.
To get back to the Million Mom March, that's why it's so important. Because
what they're saying is, hey, this really is important to us; we're not sitting at
home being called by some pollster and given a number. We care enough
about this that we left what we were doing on Mother's Day to come to
Washington to take a stand for the safety of our children and our future. So,
to me, that's the most important thing. And then I just think it's important that
after this they continue to work...
NEWSWEEK: In 1992 you won points for distancing yourself from
some of the more extreme elements of your own party. How would you
tell Governor Bush, if you were advising him, to handle this issue of
the Republicans and the NRA?
Well, I don't think he can do anything about it. Because he's already signed
their concealed weapons bill and then he signed their bill to let them carry
concealed weapons in churches. I mean, all he can do is what he did today,
which nobody who understands the issue will take very seriously. He'll say,
oh, well they won't have undue influence on me. That guy from the NRA,
when he said, "We'll have an office in the White House if George Bush gets
elected," I don't think he literally meant that [NRA executive vice president
Wayne] LaPierre will be given an office in the White House. I think he meant
that they will have complete access and that nothing will happen that they
don't want to happen. And that's what I think the facts are ...
But I don't believe that the American people should be under any illusion, this
is one of the four or five biggest differences between the two candidates. And
there will be consequences to that ... Let me just give you the flip side. If there
is somebody living in Tennessee or Arkansas who really likes Al Gore and
likes our economic record, but hunts on every available day and has half a
dozen handguns around the house and goes to sports shooting contests and
basically is afraid that we're going a little too far, they've got to decide if they
disagree with us on that whether or not they want to go ahead and vote for us
for other reasons. But neither side should pretend that this is not a gaping
difference ...
NEWSWEEK: Some gun control advocates think that maybe you
haven't gone far enough in using the bully pulpit.
I know they do.
NEWSWEEK: Some wish that maybe in the days after Columbine you
had gone right to the American people, perhaps given an Oval Office
address and seized that moment.
If you go back and look at how many statements I made on this, how hard I
lobbied for this and how hard we worked for it, I don't know what else I
could have done. Maybe an Oval Office address would have made a
difference, but I doubt it. Look, what happened is, you can't pass a bill in
Washington in three days or three weeks. That's the real problem. I mean one
that has any details. So, basically, what the Republican leaders did was to run
out the clock last year after Columbine. And that's what they're trying to do
this year. They're trying to run out the clock. And what I'm trying to do is get
something done ... So all I can tell you is, I've done the very best I could. And
if I could have done more, I should have, then I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I
can only tell you that I have tried. I have never walked away from what I
thought was a real opportunity to get something done. And I really believed
after Columbine that we would get something done. Particularly because it
happened in an area that was a predominantly Republican area and the
Republicans out there in Colorado, including the governor, were for measures
like this, having had the experience. But you've got to hand it to the NRA,
they were strong enough to kill it all.
NEWSWEEK: Do you think you might work on this issue once you
leave office?
Oh, sure. This is one of the things that I'm interested in. I know it's one of the
reasons that the NRA leadership dislikes me so much, but one of the reasons
that I think I might be able to help is that I really do respect this sort of culture
of America that doesn't view guns as, by definition, bad; that values hunting,
that values sports shooting, that recognizes that the people that are properly
trained and disciplined can actually enhance themselves. But I just think that
for us to be blind to the most self-evident prevention measures whenever
somebody cracks the whip of gun control over our head is a big mistake for
our country, because I don't think we're as safe as we ought to be and I think
we can do better. That's how I feel about it. I don't have any churning,
emotional animosity toward any of them, this is just something I'm trying to get
done for our country. And I really think that that would be a serious error for
us to reverse course on this. I think we ought to keep just working right ahead
in the direction we've taken these last few years.
And he supports our right to own trigger locked handguns for self-defense! I wonder if the Secret Service agents, who will protect Mr. Clinton for the rest of his life, are required to put locks on their high capacity guns?
Caught in the Gun Culture
Clinton on his and Al Gore's battle with the NRA
May 15, 2000; EDT:00 a.m. EDT
As the two main presidential candidates traded barbs over gun control last
week, President Clinton spoke to NEWSWEEK's Debra Rosenberg and
Matt Bai in the Oval Office. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: Do you think the Million Mom March will have any
real impact on the political landscape? And is there any chance that
you might march to show your support?
CLINTON: Well, I haven't decided. We're going to talk to the organizers
and see what I can do to be helpful. I think that what they want it to be is an
expression of citizen support, and they want it to be as non-political as
possible, since they want to show that there are Democrats and Republicans
and Independents, they're from all over the country and from all different
kinds of backgrounds. I think it's a very good thing to do, and I certainly
support them coming here ... So I think if the Million Mom March shows
people all over America this is becoming a voting issue for citizens who care
about the safety of their children and the future of their country, and that they
know—they're quite well aware now that it's not a gun-control issue in the
sense of keeping guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens, it's about gun
safety, then I think it can have a major, major impact.
NEWSWEEK: Do you personally think it makes sense for people to
have handguns in their homes for self-defense? Is that a constitutional
right?
First of all, I do think that they have a right to do it, and a lot of people have
guns ... But if they do, they need to have child safety locks on the guns and
they need to have them put in a place where kids can't get to them. That's
what I think is the most important thing about that. I don't doubt that there are
instances where people who are well-trained and disciplined and know how
to use their firearms may have made themselves safer. But I think that there
also a lot of instances where, again, on the accidental death rate alone, where
it's been a bigger problem. So the key thing is people who decide that they
want to or need to have handguns in their homes should, first of all, know how
to use them in a safe and responsible way; and then should make sure they're
equipped with the child safety devices and put away where kids can't find
them.
NEWSWEEK: When he was in the Senate, the vice president
frequently voted along with the NRA. Do you think that he's the best
messenger now for gun control?
I do ... Look, none of us who came out of this culture —that's one of the
reasons they're so opposed to us, because we came out of that culture. I tell
everybody, I still remember the first time I shot a can off a fence post when I
was 12 years old out in the country, with a .22. I came out of that culture.
You know, I don't have a perfect record on this. In 1982, when I was running
for reelection as governor and I was trying to become the first governor in the
history of my state ever to win, lose and win again, I got a questionnaire that
said, are you for a three-day waiting period, and I said, sure, because it made
sense to me, 18 years ago. I said, sure. And it stirred up the darndest
firestorm you ever heard. All of a sudden there were images that I was going
to go have the state police go in people's houses and take their guns away
from them. And I took a dive on it. I walked away from it. I think it's
important to be blunt here. I felt this heat. But I always felt bad about it
because I realized that we were caught in a culture where labels were more
important than facts and reality...
My view of this is totally different from theirs. If I were running the NRA I
would be out promoting safety of gun ownership, I'd be promoting these
safety measures, I'd be for all these bills in the Congress. And I'd say as long
as nobody interferes with hunting or sports shooting or the right of Americans
to have guns for their own safety, I'm for anything that makes this a safer
country. That's the position I'd be in ... But they can do it and win with it
because people are scared of them and because they can use the words "gun
control." And if you take any of these measures, we'll win them by 20 to 30
points or more. But if you use the words, do we need more gun control, that
turns it into about a—it's a much closer issue, five or six points. And then the
intensity feeling on their side gives them a political victory. And that's what's
going on...
Al Gore is a good messenger is because he spent a lot of his life growing up in
Carthage, Tennessee and he's been around this culture all his life and he ought
to be able to effectively communicate that we're not trying to stop anybody
from hunting or sports shooting or even protecting themselves; but we are
trying to increase the safety of our children and keep guns out of the hands of
criminals and kids. That's the message we have to stay at.
To get back to the Million Mom March, that's why it's so important. Because
what they're saying is, hey, this really is important to us; we're not sitting at
home being called by some pollster and given a number. We care enough
about this that we left what we were doing on Mother's Day to come to
Washington to take a stand for the safety of our children and our future. So,
to me, that's the most important thing. And then I just think it's important that
after this they continue to work...
NEWSWEEK: In 1992 you won points for distancing yourself from
some of the more extreme elements of your own party. How would you
tell Governor Bush, if you were advising him, to handle this issue of
the Republicans and the NRA?
Well, I don't think he can do anything about it. Because he's already signed
their concealed weapons bill and then he signed their bill to let them carry
concealed weapons in churches. I mean, all he can do is what he did today,
which nobody who understands the issue will take very seriously. He'll say,
oh, well they won't have undue influence on me. That guy from the NRA,
when he said, "We'll have an office in the White House if George Bush gets
elected," I don't think he literally meant that [NRA executive vice president
Wayne] LaPierre will be given an office in the White House. I think he meant
that they will have complete access and that nothing will happen that they
don't want to happen. And that's what I think the facts are ...
But I don't believe that the American people should be under any illusion, this
is one of the four or five biggest differences between the two candidates. And
there will be consequences to that ... Let me just give you the flip side. If there
is somebody living in Tennessee or Arkansas who really likes Al Gore and
likes our economic record, but hunts on every available day and has half a
dozen handguns around the house and goes to sports shooting contests and
basically is afraid that we're going a little too far, they've got to decide if they
disagree with us on that whether or not they want to go ahead and vote for us
for other reasons. But neither side should pretend that this is not a gaping
difference ...
NEWSWEEK: Some gun control advocates think that maybe you
haven't gone far enough in using the bully pulpit.
I know they do.
NEWSWEEK: Some wish that maybe in the days after Columbine you
had gone right to the American people, perhaps given an Oval Office
address and seized that moment.
If you go back and look at how many statements I made on this, how hard I
lobbied for this and how hard we worked for it, I don't know what else I
could have done. Maybe an Oval Office address would have made a
difference, but I doubt it. Look, what happened is, you can't pass a bill in
Washington in three days or three weeks. That's the real problem. I mean one
that has any details. So, basically, what the Republican leaders did was to run
out the clock last year after Columbine. And that's what they're trying to do
this year. They're trying to run out the clock. And what I'm trying to do is get
something done ... So all I can tell you is, I've done the very best I could. And
if I could have done more, I should have, then I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I
can only tell you that I have tried. I have never walked away from what I
thought was a real opportunity to get something done. And I really believed
after Columbine that we would get something done. Particularly because it
happened in an area that was a predominantly Republican area and the
Republicans out there in Colorado, including the governor, were for measures
like this, having had the experience. But you've got to hand it to the NRA,
they were strong enough to kill it all.
NEWSWEEK: Do you think you might work on this issue once you
leave office?
Oh, sure. This is one of the things that I'm interested in. I know it's one of the
reasons that the NRA leadership dislikes me so much, but one of the reasons
that I think I might be able to help is that I really do respect this sort of culture
of America that doesn't view guns as, by definition, bad; that values hunting,
that values sports shooting, that recognizes that the people that are properly
trained and disciplined can actually enhance themselves. But I just think that
for us to be blind to the most self-evident prevention measures whenever
somebody cracks the whip of gun control over our head is a big mistake for
our country, because I don't think we're as safe as we ought to be and I think
we can do better. That's how I feel about it. I don't have any churning,
emotional animosity toward any of them, this is just something I'm trying to get
done for our country. And I really think that that would be a serious error for
us to reverse course on this. I think we ought to keep just working right ahead
in the direction we've taken these last few years.
