<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton is to propose a handgun licensing program as part of his State of the Union speech on Thursday, a White House official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the proposal was the so-called ``surprise'' feature of the speech, most of which has been publicized in advance.
``Crime in America has dropped for the past seven years -- the longest decline on record, thanks to a national consensus we helped forge on community police, sensible gun control, and effective prevention,'' Clinton said in an excerpt of the State of the Union speech released in advance by the White House.
``But nobody believes America is safe enough. So let's set a higher goal: let's make America the safest big country in the world,'' Clinton said. A White House guest at Thursday's speech will be Tom Mauser, who has become a prominent gun-control advocate since the loss of his son in the Columbine High School shootings last year.
Clinton has previously resisted calls to seek a licensing of handguns, saying he would pursue only what he thought he had a chance of getting through Congress.
Vice President Al Gore and former Sen. Bill BradleyDHH, who are waging a battle for the Democratic nomination to succeed Clinton, have both proposed licensing of gun owners.[/quote]
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the proposal was the so-called ``surprise'' feature of the speech, most of which has been publicized in advance.
``Crime in America has dropped for the past seven years -- the longest decline on record, thanks to a national consensus we helped forge on community police, sensible gun control, and effective prevention,'' Clinton said in an excerpt of the State of the Union speech released in advance by the White House.
``But nobody believes America is safe enough. So let's set a higher goal: let's make America the safest big country in the world,'' Clinton said. A White House guest at Thursday's speech will be Tom Mauser, who has become a prominent gun-control advocate since the loss of his son in the Columbine High School shootings last year.
Clinton has previously resisted calls to seek a licensing of handguns, saying he would pursue only what he thought he had a chance of getting through Congress.
Vice President Al Gore and former Sen. Bill BradleyDHH, who are waging a battle for the Democratic nomination to succeed Clinton, have both proposed licensing of gun owners.[/quote]