Thomas and O’Keefe were among the throngs of women who descended on Washington Sunday for the Million Mom March, the brainchild of a suburban New Jersey mother whose goal was to show Congress–and the presidential candidates–the power of a grass-roots anti-gun movement. It’s not clear if the march will be a one-time event or the beginning of a lasting crusade, but both Gore and Bush, eager to appear sensitive to public concerns about crime and violence, now find themselves mired in the tense and emotional politics of guns.
Gore has had an easier time of it. Though critics point out he was a reliable NRA vote for much of his time in Congress, in recent years he has become a staunch foe of the gun lobby–and a favorite target of the NRA’s famous figurehead, Charlton Heston. He’s won over many of the marchers with his support for key parts of their agenda, including their main demand: gun licensing and registration. Though Gore runs the risk of losing some gun-owning Democrats, his advisers long ago concluded that passionate gun advocates aren’t likely to vote for him anyway.
Bush is in a far trickier position. A strong gun-rights supporter, he can’t afford to alienate pro-gun voters in Republican-stronghold states by appearing weak on the issue. Yet he well knows that presidential elections are won and lost on the vast numbers of more moderate swing voters, and polls show those people–especially suburban women like many of the marching moms–are weary of gun violence and want politicians to do something to stop it. Last week Bush announced a plan designed to satisfy both sides: a nationwide trigger-lock giveaway. The proposal, which would make the devices available to all handgun owners, couldn’t have been less controversial. Most guns sold today already come with locks; Bush’s plan wouldn’t require anyone to use them. Even so, the Bush campaign lauded its own move as evidence that the candidate “agrees with moms and dads across America” about the need for “reasonable steps.”
It will take more than trigger locks to win them over. Though Bush’s advisers have tried to soft-pedal his ties to the NRA, his relationship with the gun lobby in Texas runs deep and was essential to his election as governor. Bush was a no-compromise pro-gun candidate when he first ran, and won, in 1994. Early in the campaign, he learned the price of messing with gun groups. Bush said he thought teens shouldn’t be allowed to carry guns without adult supervision. Gun-rights supporters erupted in protest. Daunted by the response, the candidate quickly caved. “I’m changing my position,” he told reporters. “You just got me.”
Chastened, Bush hammered his opponent, Gov. Ann Richards, for vetoing a bill allowing Texans to carry concealed handguns. He made the law a centerpiece of his campaign, hitting it especially hard in rural areas. “That’s what got him elected,” says Suzanna Hupp, a Texas state legislator and gun activist.
When newly elected Gov. Bush signed the concealed weapon bill in 1995, he vowed it would “make Texas a safer place.” Plenty of Texans liked the idea, and in 1997 Bush signed a bill broadening the law, allowing concealed weapons in churches, hospitals and amusement parks.
So far 211,769 people statewide have received licenses to carry concealed handguns. State officials say extensive background checks on all applicants have kept nearly 3,000 felons, mentally ill applicants and other ineligibles from getting the permits. But the law has had its share of problems. More than 2,700 concealed-weapon holders have been arrested, including 27 for murder, 49 for sexual assault and 8 for kidnapping. In one case, an Austin man with a permit chased a car burglar down the street for two blocks, then pulled out his gun and fatally shot him in the back. He is now awaiting trial for murder. Opponents of the law point to the case as an example of how people who carry guns are likely to use them when they shouldn’t. But Bush officials in Texas are quick to say that crime is down in the state, and claim permit holders are less likely to commit crimes than the rest of the population.
As a presidential candidate, Bush has remained loyal to his gun supporters. Last year he approved an NRA-backed Texas law making it difficult for cities to sue gunmakers. On the eve of the closely contested South Carolina primary, a Bush-sponsored group called Sportsmen for Bush sent a mass mailing to NRA members saying that the candidate would “never bow to the knee-jerk hysteria” of the “anti-gun lobby.”
That doesn’t mean Bush will necessarily be a gun crusader if he gets to the White House. A states-rights advocate, he may choose to let the states battle over the issue without getting too deep into the mess himself. That suits gun activists just fine. The NRA has already pumped $530,000 of “soft money” into the GOP’s war chest, and the group’s top official, Wayne LaPierre, recently pledged $250,000 more at a party fund-raiser. With friends like that, Bush could make more than a few moms his enemy.
