May 13, 2002
Ronald Brownstein:
Washington Outlook
Bush Gets Chance to Balance Books on Guns
Whatever happened to President Bush's gun
control agenda?
No, that isn't a trick question, like whatever
happened to Madonna's sense of modesty.
As a candidate in 2000, Bush offered a modest but
tangible series of gun control proposals meant to
convince voters he'd strike a reasonable balance
between the interests of gun owners and the
demands of public safety. But in office, his
administration has focused almost entirely on gun
owners' rights--most dramatically last week when
the Justice Department adopted an expansive
interpretation of the constitutional right to bear arms
long sought by the National Rifle Assn. If Bush
really hopes to produce a balanced record, he'll
need to beef up his record on the public safety side
of the ledger. As it turns out, an upcoming
legislative fight may offer him a chance to do just
that.
Let's start with the history. Candidate Bush
received guns-blazing support from the NRA. But
he was also determined to avoid the impression he would religiously follow the
NRA line. In his final debate with Al Gore, a voter asked Bush about an NRA
leader's boast that the gun lobby would operate out of the Oval Office if Bush
won. Bush told him not to worry: "I'm a pretty independent thinker," he
insisted.
No one was going to mistake Bush for a gun control crusader. He shared the
NRA's conviction the federal government should place its priority on enforcing
existing gun laws rather than passing new ones. And he portrayed Gore's gun
control proposals as excessive. "I believe law-abiding citizens ought to be
allowed to protect themselves," Bush declared.
But Bush also tried to reassure centrist voters uneasy about gun violence. Bush
renounced earlier Republican efforts to repeal the ban on assault weapons
President Clinton squeezed through Congress. And he offered several new gun
proposals of his own, many echoing Clinton's ideas after the Columbine High
School massacre in Colorado.
"I believe that we ought to keep guns out of the hands of people that shouldn't
have them," Bush said in that final debate with Gore. "That's why I'm for instant
background checks at gun shows; I'm for trigger locks....I think we ought to
raise the age at which juveniles can have a gun."
Since the election, though, Bush hasn't been nearly as enthusiastic about these
ideas. He's moved forward on only one of them. As a candidate, Bush
promised to spend $75 million annually to provide free trigger locks that could
keep handguns from being used by children; he's fulfilled that pledge in his first
two budgets.
The rest of Bush's gun control agenda, though, has been conspicuous by its
absence. He said he would support raising the age for handgun ownership from
18 to 21. But he's offered no legislation to do so. Likewise, he said
manufacturers should be required to install child safety locks on all new
handguns, but he hasn't offered a plan to do that either. Nor has he proposed a
bill to close the legal loophole that exempts purchasers at gun shows from the
background checks required on those who buy their hardware at gun shops.
Instead his administration has emphasized the priorities of gun owner groups,
led by the NRA. Today, the government maintains the records of all
background checks run through the national database of gun purchases for 90
days, so it can audit the system for fraud or irregularities. Gun groups consider
that an invasion of privacy. The Justice Department has now proposed to
destroy the records after one day.
Last fall, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft refused to allow the FBI to use the database
to check whether any of the 1,200 people detained after Sept. 11 had bought
guns. Then last week, Ashcroft aligned the government more unequivocally
than before with the NRA's interpretation of the 2nd Amendment. In a filing to
the Supreme Court, the Justice Department broke from decades of federal
policy to declare that the amendment guarantees the right of gun ownership to
individuals and not just those engaged in military service (the Revolutionary era
"well-regulated militia" cited in the amendment).
Ashcroft insisted the Justice Department will continue to defend the
constitutionality of all existing federal gun control laws. But critics fear he's
given gun owner groups a powerful new legal club against restrictions on gun
ownership at the federal, state and local level.
Given the NRA's ferocious work for his election, it was inevitable that Bush
would respond to some of its priorities. But he also promised he would
maintain his independence from the group. Now, two old rivals are offering the
president an opportunity to prove he meant it.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) signaled last week he'll soon force a floor vote on
legislation he's co-sponsored with Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) to
close the gun show loophole, which they say is being exploited not only by
criminals but also by suspected terrorists. Bush insists he's for closing that
loophole too, but only if the background checks are conducted within 24
hours. The problem is, that's like endorsing daily shuttles to Mars. No state
now has the computer capacity to research the background of gun buyers that
fast; the checks most likely to take longer are precisely for the people we most
want to keep away from guns.
Many experts would accept 24-hour checks (which the NRA prefers) as a
reasonable goal, once they are practical. The question is what to do in the
interim. McCain's solution: For the next three years, provide law enforcement
three days to run the checks. After that, states could petition the Justice
Department to switch to an instant check once they've demonstrated the
capacity.
The bill is landing in a cross-fire. The NRA hates the three-day checks; the
most ardent gun control groups oppose the eventual switch to a 24-hour
standard. But the proposal may be the only way to break the logjam that has
blocked action on the gun show loophole since Columbine.
It will also be a revealing test of Bush's intentions. He routinely scolds Congress
for stalling his priorities. Will he demand that it send him a bill that closes the
gun show loophole and then work to fashion a compromise that can win a
majority? Which is another way of asking whether Bush was shooting straight
in 2000 when he told that voter, and a huge national audience, that he would
always think for himself about guns.
Go back to Texas like your last advisor.....they are homesick for ya!
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