We gotta make sure this guy doesn’t get elected.
—-

Bradley Makes Proposes on Gun Laws

.c The Associated Press

By JOHN McCARTHY

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Americans are riding “a wave of anger” over gun
violence and need a president committed to turning that energy into a force
for gun control, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley said
Wednesday.

“I think there’s a mood that’s changing dramatically out there and what it
needs is a leader to step forward and make the case as to why this is
important to the country,” he said. “I think they want to draw the line and
say enough is enough.”

Bradley, in Ohio for two campaign appearances and a fund raiser, said
Congress could withstand the gun lobby’s pressure if only lawmakers realized
“the wave of anger that is growing out there.”

Right now, “they don’t understand the intensity of the desire for change,”
Bradley said at a news conference.

Ohio is one of several large states – California, New York and Florida are
among the others – that will hold potentially decisive primaries on March 7,
barely a month after the first primary in New Hampshire.

To highlight the trauma of gun violence, Bradley spoke before about 250
people at the Shaker Heights Community Center. Penny Chang, 16, was shot to
death on her way to school in that Cleveland suburb in March by a man who had
been stalking her.

Bradley cited her death as an example of the need for better control of
handguns.

Lee Ajayi, a 16-year-old Shaker Heights High School student, approved of
Bradley’s focus on gun control. “It’s a good move. That’s an issue that has
touched the entire Shaker community,” the student said.

Recapping a proposal he unveiled in June, Bradley, a former senator from New
Jersey, said the manufacture, sale and distribution of “Saturday night
specials,” or what he called “small guns that are only used to kill
people,” should be outlawed.

Bradley also has called for gun-owner licenses – granted only after
background checks and basic safety courses – and registration of all guns to
establish a way of tracing those used in crimes. He also would ban gun shops
in residential neighborhoods, mandate child-safety locks on all guns and
require background checks at gun shows.

Jim Baker, chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, said the public
indeed is sickened by what has gone on in schools. But the NRA – one of the
groups Congress must resist if it is to tighten firearms controls – believes
Americans are tired of criminals breaking current laws and getting away with
it.

“I think there’s been a change in public opinion but I would disagree with
candidate Bradley on what that is,” Baker said. “We think that the public
thinks enough is enough. There are about 20,000 gun laws on the books.”

Vice President Al Gore, Bradley’s opponent for the Democratic presidential
nomination, also supports mandatory trigger locks, gun-show checks and safety
training for gun purchasers. His licensing proposal specifies that the
owner’s license include a photo.

Gore does not support Bradley’s proposal to register all guns.

“It’s becoming more and more evident that common-sense reform is needed,”
Gore spokesman Chris Lehane said.