NRA-ILA FAX ALERT

Vol. 7, No. 51 12/22/00

“THEY’VE PROBABLY HAD MORE TO DO THAN ANYONE ELSE IN THE FACT WE DIDN’T WIN
THE HOUSE THIS TIME.”

These were the words lame-duck President Bill Clinton used to describe NRA
during an interview with Dan Rather that was aired on the CBS program
“Sixty Minutes II” on December 19. Just as Clinton has credited NRA with
the Republican takeover of the U.S. House and Senate in 1994, when Rather
asked Clinton if he thought his “policy as well as personal failures” may
have contributed to President-elect George W. Bush’s defeat of Al Gore,
part of Clinton’s response included crediting NRA with an enormous amount
of political clout. Clinton stated, “…I don’t think there’s any doubt
that, in at least five states I can think of, the NRA had a decisive
influence,” because of the Association’s opposition to a number of the
Clinton-Gore Administration’s anti-gun proposals, such as its attack on
gun shows. But Clinton, whose ultimate legacy may be as the President most
challenged when it comes to telling the truth, also continued to try to
convince America that his Administration’s gun-ban agenda was something
else. However, Clinton himself signed the 1994 legislation that banned
certain firearms based on their cosmetic appearance, and Gore, his Vice
President, stated support for a ban on affordable handguns, and said
semi-automatic handguns “really have no place in our society.” Clinton did
call NRA an “effective adversary,” and closed his comments about our
Association by stating, “And they hurt Al Gore”?one of the rare times
we’ve ever agreed with Bill Clinton.

ZOGBY POLL SUPPORTS CLINTON’S COMMENTS ABOUT NRA’S EFFECTIVENESS

A new “American Values” poll by Zogby International indicated that 19% of
the voters from this year’s elections support NRA all of the time. This
alone represents nearly 20 million voters who went to the polls on
November 7. Of those who voted for President-elect Bush, 29% said they
agreed with NRA all of the time, and an additional 57% said they have
positive feelings about NRA. Even Gore supporters often agreed with NRA,
with 9% saying that our Association always represents their views, and
another 28% saying they support NRA’s position some of the time. Gore’s
internal polling during his campaign likely revealed similar results,
which is probably a good indication of why he severely muted his anti-gun
views and shunned HCI and its ilk as the race for the White House heated up.

“BLUE DOGS” WANT DEMOCRATIC PARTY
TO DISTANCE ITSELF FROM GUN CONTROL

Members of the House “Blue Dog” coalition?a group of conservative
Democrats?have been discussing the issue of gun control ever since the
November 7 elections, according to a recent article in the Congressional
Quarterly Daily Monitor. The result of these discussions? They “don’t want
(gun control) to be part of the Democratic agenda,” according to U.S.
Representative Marion Berry (D-Ark.). Berry went on to say, “We just don’t
think it’s a good issue for the party.” The concern was prompted by
Democratic losses in several races that were directly attributed to the
party’s attacks on the Second Amendment. The crushing defeat of Democrat
Scotty Baesler by U.S. Rep. Ernie Fletcher (R-Ky.) seemed to highlight the
concerns of the Blue Dogs. Baesler, who gave up the seat now held by
Fletcher in 1998 to run for the U.S. Senate (Baesler lost that race to
current U.S. Senator Jim Bunning, a pro-gun stalwart), ran an extremely
anti-gun campaign, that was heavily supported by gun-ban extremists, such
as those at HCI. His campaign included an expensive media campaign, the
exploitation of crime victims to promote his agenda, and his wife even
appeared on the “Rosie O’Donnell Show” to promote Baesler’s anti-gun
views. Fletcher wound up winning by an 18 point margin. Some House
Democratic aides blamed the Clinton-Gore Administration’s anti-gun agenda
for their problems, and one said, “Democratic members had to defend
Clinton’s aggressivity [sic] on the issue.” While NRA would certainly
welcome the Democratic Party’s leadership abandoning gun control as a
party platform, we are not holding our breath, but certainly appreciate
any support members of the Blue Dog coalition may offer.

YET ANOTHER RECKLESS LAWSUIT
AGAINST THE GUN INDUSTRY SUFFERS DEFEAT

U.S. District Judge Berle M. Schiller dismissed the City of Philadelphia’s
reckless lawsuit against gun manufacturers, stating that the city was
trying to control members of the firearms industry through litigation,
because it was unable to do so by imposing new ordinances. Schiller cited
the 1995 Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act and a 1999 amendment to the
Act?both supported by NRA?as well as judicial precedent in his decision.
He stated, “Under Pennsylvania law and by unequivocal Pennsylvania Supreme
Court precedent, the power to regulate firearms within the state now lies
exclusively with the state legislature.” Schiller also stated that the
NRA-backed 1999 amendment was specifically intended “to prohibit this very
case.” City Solicitor Kenneth I. Trujillo stated that the city is “quite
likely” to appeal, thus wasting more taxpayer funds on its worthless
effort.