Editorial
March 14, 2000
Desperate Rhetoric From the N.R.A.
Americans have become used to hearing nutty talk from leaders of the National Rifle Association. But Sunday's
outrageous assertion by the group's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, that President Clinton is "willing to accept
a certain level of killing to further his political agenda" deserves special condemnation.
Mr. LaPierre made his sick suggestion that the president relishes having gun tragedies to exploit in an interview on
ABC's "This Week." He was there to push the N.R.A.'s demonstrably false line that the nation already has enough gun
laws on the books if only the administration would enforce them. Thanks largely to the N.R.A.'s lobbying, those laws do
not adequately address issues of supply, distribution, design or child access.
In a new advertising campaign the N.R.A.'s president, Charlton Heston, accuses Mr. Clinton of engaging in lying and
scare tactics to win support for gun control measures bottled up in Congress. But for dishonesty, it is hard to beat the
N.R.A.'s own whopper in trying to portray the group as a friend of the reasonable gun safety measures it has been
fighting to defeat or water down.
The sparring came just days after Mr. Clinton's meeting with key Congressional leaders at the White House failed to
produce progress in freeing a modest gun control package from the House-Senate conference committee where it has
been stalled for months. The sticking point remains the strong gun-show provision that cleared the Senate last May over
the N.R.A.'s vehement opposition. This provision would extend to gun-show sales the same background check
requirement that now applies to guns purchased from licensed dealers.
Two Democratic senators, Charles Schumer of New York and Richard Durbin of Illinois, are planning to step up the
pressure by attaching gun control amendments to other legislation coming to the floor. This will force recorded votes on
matters with broad public support, like mandatory trigger locks and background checks of buyers at gun shows, flea
markets and Internet sales.
Only two weeks ago a 6-year-old killed a classmate with a handgun, one of many reasons gun regulation promises to be
an issue in the long political campaign ahead. The chief obstacle to saner gun control remains the obstructionism of the
N.R.A., whose extremist views and rhetoric should offend Americans fed up with all the gunfire.
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
March 14, 2000
Desperate Rhetoric From the N.R.A.
Americans have become used to hearing nutty talk from leaders of the National Rifle Association. But Sunday's
outrageous assertion by the group's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, that President Clinton is "willing to accept
a certain level of killing to further his political agenda" deserves special condemnation.
Mr. LaPierre made his sick suggestion that the president relishes having gun tragedies to exploit in an interview on
ABC's "This Week." He was there to push the N.R.A.'s demonstrably false line that the nation already has enough gun
laws on the books if only the administration would enforce them. Thanks largely to the N.R.A.'s lobbying, those laws do
not adequately address issues of supply, distribution, design or child access.
In a new advertising campaign the N.R.A.'s president, Charlton Heston, accuses Mr. Clinton of engaging in lying and
scare tactics to win support for gun control measures bottled up in Congress. But for dishonesty, it is hard to beat the
N.R.A.'s own whopper in trying to portray the group as a friend of the reasonable gun safety measures it has been
fighting to defeat or water down.
The sparring came just days after Mr. Clinton's meeting with key Congressional leaders at the White House failed to
produce progress in freeing a modest gun control package from the House-Senate conference committee where it has
been stalled for months. The sticking point remains the strong gun-show provision that cleared the Senate last May over
the N.R.A.'s vehement opposition. This provision would extend to gun-show sales the same background check
requirement that now applies to guns purchased from licensed dealers.
Two Democratic senators, Charles Schumer of New York and Richard Durbin of Illinois, are planning to step up the
pressure by attaching gun control amendments to other legislation coming to the floor. This will force recorded votes on
matters with broad public support, like mandatory trigger locks and background checks of buyers at gun shows, flea
markets and Internet sales.
Only two weeks ago a 6-year-old killed a classmate with a handgun, one of many reasons gun regulation promises to be
an issue in the long political campaign ahead. The chief obstacle to saner gun control remains the obstructionism of the
N.R.A., whose extremist views and rhetoric should offend Americans fed up with all the gunfire.
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company