Updated 11:04 PM ET January 27, 2000
By Randall Mikkelsen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Clinton on Thursday proposed licenses for handgun buyers as part of his goal to make America “the safest big country in the world.”

“Every state in this country already requires hunters and automobile drivers to have a license. I think they ought to do the same thing for handgun purchasers,” Clinton said in his State of the Union speech.

He outlined the proposal after calling attention to a White House guest in the audience — Tom Mauser, who has become a prominent gun-control advocate since his son, Daniel, died in the Columbine High School shootings last year.

“I pray that his courage and wisdom will move this Congress to make common-sense gun legislation the very next order of business,” Clinton said, referring to Mauser.

The National Rifle Association quickly denounced the proposal and a spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he did not think it would be popular in the Republican-led Congress.

Under the proposal, individuals seeking to buy a handgun would be required to obtain a license with their picture on it, Clinton said. The license could be issued only if an applicant had passed a background check and taken a gun-safety course.

The licenses would be issued by states, but states could choose not to participate in the program, in which case federally-approved gun dealers could issue the licenses, the White House said in a fact sheet on the proposal.

The proposal was a “surprise” feature of the State of the Union speech, most of which had 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.

“SAFEST BIG COUNTRY IN THE WORLD”

“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.

In his speech, Clinton highlighted a proposal in his 2001 budget to spend $280 million to help track down gun-wielding criminals and put them behind bars.

The initiative is an attempt by the White House to answer criticism by gun-control opponents that current firearms laws are not being adequately enforced.

Clinton also urged Congress to fund research on “smart guns” designed to prevent use by children or other people who do not own the gun.

Clinton had 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.

But there has been no indication sentiment in Congress has changed on gun control since the House in June defeated a bill backed by Clinton to close a loophole by requiring background checks of all people buying guns at gun shows.

A White House aide said Clinton’s new proposal represented an attempt to dramatically change the terms of the debate in hopes of winning public support and forcing Congress “out of their bunker.”

“Certainly you can expect to dislodge the gridlock of the moment,” the aide said.

The gun proposal would meet a chilly reception in Congress, said John Feehery, a spokesman for Hastert, an Illinois Republican.

“NOT A POPULAR PROPOSITION”

“Gun registration is not a popular proposition in Congress,” Feehery said. “The speaker had trouble from Democrats getting more reasonable common sense gun proposals through, so I just think gun licensing will not be popular.”

Vice President Al Gore and former Sen. Bill Bradley, who are waging a battle for the Democratic nomination to succeed Clinton, have both proposed licensing of gun owners.

In December, the Clinton administration threatened to organize a suit against the gun industry by public housing authorities unless the gun makers changed their marketing practices.

Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, a politically powerful gunowners’ rights group, criticized the licensing proposal as a first step toward eventual confiscation of guns.

“I don’t think Americans are going to buy it. I think the NRA is going to grow by tens of thousands and millions,” LaPierre told Reuters.

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