Polling for the Democrats has found more than 80 percent siding with Clinton and Gore over Bush on issues like mandatory gun locks, background checks at gun shows and opposition to concealed weapons. It was no coincidence that Gore criticized efforts to shield the gun industry from lawsuits just as Bush was signing a bill doing just that. “Guns have definitely become an issue that is connected to your children, especially for suburban women,” says Mark Penn, a pollster for Clinton and Gore. “The school shootings have turned this into a first-tier issue.” Democrats believe last week’s House vote against gun control will help galvanize the issue.

Even so, education–not guns–is the centerpiece of what Gore says will be a “restless,” “revolutionary” and highly specific campaign. Among his education promises: preschool for all American kids, a $10,000 bonus for teachers willing to work in underserved areas and a new national savings plan for college tuition. Gore is not addressing Bush by name but he repeatedly criticizes those who say needy Americans should survive on “the crumbs of compassion”–a not-so-veiled reference to Bush’s idea of “compassionate conservatism.”

TERRORISMDoes Bin Laden Have Plans?

Is Osama bin Laden, the suspected terrorist mastermind, about to strike again? ABC News last week reported that bin Laden was “in the advanced stages” of planning a new anti-U.S. attack. But the FBI is downplaying the report. A senior bureau official told NEWSWEEK that there is no “hard intelligence” that the exiled Saudi millionaire is poised to strike. Still, U.S. installations in the Middle East and Africa have been placed on high alert, and the FBI issued a “terrorist threat advisory” to U.S companies. Among the reasons the Feds cite for the “heightened” concern: the recent addition of bin Laden to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list and the upcoming anniversary of last August’s U.S. embassy bombings in Africa.

RADIATIONNuclear Leaks of Another Kind

Nuclear secrets aren’t the only kind of unauthorized leaks from U.S. weapons labs. According to a General Accounting Office draft report obtained by NEWSWEEK, over the past three years, the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore labs were assessed fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars for safety violations, including exposing their employees to radiation. The report says investigators criticize Los Alamos for “inadequate monitoring of radiological contamination,” while Lawrence Livermore is cited for “radiation exposure of personnel exceeding limits” and “repeated violations of safety procedures designed to prevent uncontrolled nuclear reactions.” But the contractor that now runs the labs won’t have to pay the fines. The reason: under the law, nonprofit organizations operating nuclear-weapons facilities don’t have to pay safety fines and both labs are run by the University of California, a nonprofit. Energy Department officials say safety at the labs has improved.

THE BUZZWe’re Working Faster! E-Mail Your Friends!

For years economists denied that computers get more done, faster. But a boom in workers’ hourly output has the money mavens finally tipping to the idea that technology is driving our inflationless, high-employment roll. The buzz on New Era economics: Huh? Computers boost productivity? All we do is send friends e-mail and perfect our solitaire game. Ya Gotta Believe If Fed chief Greenspan accepts the New Era, we do too. Ao why raise interest rates? Keep it rollin’, Al. It’s Just a Blip As soon as we all get online, growth levels off, and the fun’s over. You Don’t Know the Half of It Some economists say healthcare and banking efficiencies like ATMs go uncounted. We’re doing even better than the numbers say. Industrial Revolution Redux The computer finally gets the recognition it deserves: it’s bigger than the steam engine and electric motor combined.

FUGITIVERadical Theater

Few fugitives would dare stage a solo performance at the statehouse. But if Sara Jane Olson, a 52-year-old St. Paul, Minn., mother of three, turns out to be Kathleen Soliah, suspected Symbionese Liberation Army bomber, she’ll have brought “hiding in plain sight” to new heights. Neglecting to color her flaming red hair, Olson acted in at least a dozen community-theater productions around the Twin Cities, to impressive reviews, and once played a suffragette in a one-woman show for Minnesota legislators. Nor was she a simple soccer mom, as her lawyer portrayed her last week. A supporter of Democratic politicians, Olson helped found a radical bookstore in the ’80s. Nabbed last week, 24 years after Soliah disappeared, Olson awaits a July 15 hearing on extradition to California.

NEW YORKWe Know What You’ll Do This Summer

Planning a trip to the Big Apple? You’re not alone. Nearly 35 million out-of-towners will descend upon New York this year. But don’t just follow your guidebook. After you’ve seen the Statue of Liberty and dined at the Hard Rock Cafe, stay south of 57th Street for real New York fun. Here’s a Peri guide to what’s hot in the city: MTV Skip Letterman and the ‘Today’ show. Wait outside MTV’s Times Square studios to get a song on ‘Total Request Live.’ Chelsea Screamer The Chelsea Piers boat roars around Manhattan’s lower tip. Ride in the back if you don’t mind a little water.

Bowlmor Lanes Disco bowling at this University Place hangout is a must. Bonus: celeb sightings, if you’re lucky. Pedicap Rides Call 212-PONYCAB for a tour of Manhattan. Plus, the man-powered bikes are good for the environment. Rocco’s If the creamy Italian ices don;t make this Bleeker Street shop an instant favorite, the cheesecake will. Lower East Side Orchard Street is where it’s at. From ultrahip lounges to locations for videos, it’s the bohemian playground of the 90’s. Tenement Museum A little-known New York treat, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum re-creates life at the turn of the century.

EAGLESFlying High

The bald eagle is ready to come off the endangered-species list. Is President Clinton ready to make the July 4 announcement? Down to 417 pairs in the lower 48 states in 1963, the national symbol is represented by more than 5,000 pairs today, and could be removed from the list after a year’s public-comment period. Clinton is keen to trumpet environmental gains, says an aide, but may fear a repeat of the July 4 fiasco of three years ago, when an eagle he released into the wild was promptly attacked by an osprey.

TRANSITIONLeaving a Mark as Big as Texas

He belonged to a vanishing world in which profanity, dealmaking and strong drink lubricated the wheels of power. Yet Bob Bullock, a longtime Democratic leader and Texas lieutenant governor who died last week at 69, left a lasting mark not just on his state but, perhaps, on a future White House. It was Bullock who helped novice governor George W. Bush get his footing in Austin; he even endorsed Bush for re-election last year–despite being godfather to the Democratic nominee’s son. “Bob Bullock,” Bush said last week, “was the largest Texan of our time.”

Conventional WisdomSPECIAL WHO’S GOT MOJO? EDITION

C.W. Gore = “Family man” Al starts his run–away from the president. Hasta luego, Bill. G.W. Bush + Still flying high from meeting expectations. But watch those pro-gun panders. House - Old: Littleton will shame them into joining Senate anti-gun bill. New: Shameless. C. Heston + NRA chief gets gun vote, and Ten Commandments in school. Holy Moses! DIVX - Alternative DVD movie format bites the dust. Hold on to your player as eBay collectible. Belgium - First, sick chickens. Then defective Coca-Cola. Stick to waffles and fries.