Section A · Page 10
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, March 13, 2000
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on April 15,2000 we will offer $20 hair cuts all day from 9 a.m.to 6 p.m.
100% of the proceeds will go to City of Hope a national foundation supporting the continued research of finding a cure for breast cancer
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Clinton exchanges fire with NRA about stronger gun control laws
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Charges of dishonesty and scare tactics flew yesterday in a brawl between President Clinton and the National Rifle Association about tougher gun laws. In a mocking broadside, Clinton tore into the group for its knee-jerk reaction to any gun safety measure.
Clinton's accusations brought an incendial rebuttal from Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive vice-president, who said the president exploited gun deaths for political purposes.
George W. Bush of Texas.
"I've come to believe that he needs a certain level of violence in this country," LaPierre said. "He's willing to accept a certain level of killing to further his political agenda and his vice president, too."
At issue was a new advertising campaign in which nRA president Charlton Heston all but accuses the president of lying in his characterizations of the group as an impediment to sensible laws and public safety.
But the sparring was more broadly about the president's two-track effort to use his final year to win some of the gun controls that have eluded him so far and to inject the subject into the presidential campaign, pitting his vice president, Al Gore, against Republican Gov.
Clinton, appearing on ABC's "This Week," said the NRA was ruthlessly brutal in helping to defeat members of Congress who gave the nation laws such as the Brady Bill, which requires a waiting period for gun purchases, and the ban on assault-type weapons.
He dismissed as wounded
rhetoric the group's contention that he unfairly overlooked the NRA's record of promoting gun safety and toougher enforcement of existing laws.
"These crocodile tears," Clinton said, "I don't think it will wash with
the voters, even with Moses reading the script."
Clinton: Said the NRA overreacts to gun-control laws.
Heston, an actor, played Moses in the movie The Ten Commandments.
LaPierre, also on "This Week," attributed Clinton's renewed focus on guns to his interest in getting Gore elected. "The pollsters and consultants are telling them, 'Scare suburban women,'" he said.
"The pollsters and consultants are telling them, 'Scare suburban women.'"
Wayne LaPierre NRA executive vice-president
Among other steps, Clinton wants people who make purchases at gun shows to be subject to background checks that could take as long as 72 hours. Many congressional Republicans and the NRA want such checks to be instant or at least no longer than 24 hours.
"I just think that the knee-jerk reaction to any gun safety measure is wrong." Clinton said of the NRA. "If you do one little thing that requires any accommodation ... they think it's the end of the world."
Following Clinton, who taped his interview Friday, LaPierre wasted no time going after, what he called, the level of dishonesty Clinton is capable of.
He said the Clinton administration had been singularly lax in enforcing gun laws already on the books. "You can't care about stopping crimes with guns and give the country a complete lack of enforcement," he said.
kansan.com
for students by students
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8:00 PM Wednesday, March 15
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INFO?: call 785-864-3477 www.ukans.edu/~sua
- Pick up passes at SUA Office, Kansas Union, 4th Floor, 2 passes per KU I.D. Passes will be distributed from the SUA office the day of the event.
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