DURING LAST year's presidential campaign, the National Rifle Association bragged that a Bush victory would give the NRA an office in the West Wing of the White House. It is now clear that this office is open for business, albeit located a few blocks away in the attorney general's office.
In a bout of blatant pandering to the NRA, Attorney General John Ashcroft has quickly begun to dismantle our gun safety laws.
He recently announced that records of Brady gun law background checks - which have stopped more than 600,000 felons and other unauthorized persons from obtaining guns - would be destroyed just one day after a gun is sold. The FBI has warned that it needs to retain records for at least 90 days to ensure the integrity of the background check system.
Mr. Ashcroft then said his Justice Department would change its longstanding interpretation of the Second Amendment and endorse the NRA's mythical individual right to bear arms.
He made this announcement even though there has been unanimous agreement by the U.S. Supreme Court and every federal appellate court in the past century that the Second Amendment relates only to a state's right to maintain a "well-regulated militia." The NRA immediately announced that it would use this "interpretation" to try to overturn laws such as Washington, D.C.'s gun ban.
The Bush administration's kowtowing to the most extremist elements of the gun lobby extended recently to a United Nations conference on how small arms wreak havoc around the world.
The lofty but limited goal of the conference was to encourage countries to voluntarily control the spread of small arms such as assault weapons, grenade launchers and shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles. The Bush administration immediately denounced the conference, arguing that any restrictions on the private ownership of even military-style assault weapons violated the supposed individual right to bear arms.
It may just be a coincidence that American firearms companies account for $1.2 billion of the global small arms trade.
This series of actions, which threaten to undermine successful gun safety laws and by promoting the proliferation of firearms, is contrary to the overwhelming will of the American public.
A poll in the spring by Opinion Research Corporation International showed strong support for common sense gun safety measures that are routinely opposed by the NRA. In the poll, 82 percent of respondents supported closing the gun show loophole that permits felons and fugitives to obtain guns from unlicensed dealers at gun shows without background checks under the 1993 Brady gun law.
