LEHRER: Governor Bush, another kind of
gun question. It'll be asked by Robert Lutz
(ph).
Mr. Lutz (ph)?
QUESTION: Governor Bush.
BUSH: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: We'd just like to know, what is
your opposition to the Brady gun --
handgun bill?
BUSH: Could you -- I'm sorry I didn't hear
that.
QUESTION: We'd like to know why you object
to the Brady handgun -- if you do object to
it. Because in a recent TV ad, it showed that
the National Rifle Association says if you are
elected that they will be working out of
your office. I can just see...
BUSH: I don't think the National Rifle
Association ran that ad, but let me just tell
you my position on guns in general, sir, if
you don't mind.
LEHRER: I'm not -- excuse me, I'm not sure
he's finished with his question, Governor.
I'm sorry.
BUSH: Oh, I'm sorry.
QUESTION: Well, actually that kind of
bothers me, you know, when I see that ad
like that. I wonder if you could explain that
ad to me.
BUSH: Well, I don't think I ran the ad; I think
somebody who doesn't want me to
president might have run that ad. It's a --
that wasn't my ad and I think it might have
been one of my opponents' ads.
Here's what I believe, sir. I believe
law-abiding citizens ought to be allowed to
protect themselves and their families. I
believe that we ought to keep guns out of
the hands of people who shouldn't have
them. That's why I'm for instant
background checks at gun shows. I'm for
trigger locks. I think that makes sense.
Matter of fact, we distributed free trigger
locks in the state of Texas so that people
can get them and put them on their guns
to make their guns more safe.
BUSH: I think we ought to raise the age at
which juveniles can have a gun.
But I also believe strongly that we need to
enforce laws on the books, that the best
way to make sure that we keep our society
safe and secure is to hold people
accountable for breaking the law. If we
catch somebody illegally selling a gun,
there needs to be a consequence. We keep
-- somebody, you know, illegally using a
gun, there needs to be a consequence.
Enforcement of law. And the federal
government can help.
There's a great program called Project
Exile in Richmond, Virginia. We focused
federal taxpayers' money and federal
prosecutors and went after people who
were illegally using guns. To me, that's how
you make society the safest it can be.
And so, yes, sometimes I agree with some
of these groups in Washington and
sometimes I don't. I'm a pretty
independent thinker. But one thing I'm for
is a safe society, and I'm for enforcing laws
on the books. And that's what's going to
happen should I earn your confidence.
LEHRER: Vice President Gore?
GORE: Well, it wasn't one of -- it was not one
of my ads either, Governor. But I am
familiar with the statement, and it was
made by one of the top ranking officials of
that organization.
Let me tell you my position. I think that
some common-sense gun safety measures
are certainly needed with the flood of
cheap handguns that have sometimes been
working their way into the hands of the
wrong people.
But all of my proposals are focused on that
problem: gun safety. None of my proposals
would have any effect on hunters or
sportsmen or people who use rifles.
GORE: They're aimed at the real problem.
Let's make our schools safe. Let's make our
neighborhoods safe. Let's have a three-day
waiting period, A cooling off, so we can
have a background check to make sure
that criminals and people who really
shouldn't have guns don't get them.
