Despite a number of high-profile gun-related tragedies that shocked the nation in the last year, including the massacre at Colorado’s Columbine High School, the issue of gun control barely has been mentioned by the presidential candidates, nor have voters pressed them on it.
Even in New Hampshire, a state where the 2nd Amendment is fiercely defended, a dinner hosted by the Gun Owners of New Hampshire failed to draw any of the four leading candidates, including Republicans George W. Bush and John McCain.
In previous years, this preprimary dinner was one of the biggest events on the GOP campaign schedule; candidates wouldn’t dream of skipping it. Even some angling for the Democratic nomination would show up to address gun owners.
To some, the front-runners’ absences spoke volumes. An editorial in the Manchester Union Leader called it a “stinging insult to Granite Staters who passionately defend their 2nd Amendment right to own firearms without the interference of government. . . .”
“Think hard about what Bush’s and McCain’s absences say about their candidacies,” the Union Leader said. “The former is largely dismissive of New Hampshire politics in general, the latter is largely dismissive of gun owners’ concerns.”
Political experts say the candidates’ reluctance to expand on the issue in a campaign reflects the complex, combustible nature of gun control in today’s climate.
“Firearms is the classic third rail of politics,” said Craig Peterson, president of the Gun Owners of New Hampshire. “Touch it and you’re dead.”
For candidates, “it’s a losing issue,” said Kenneth Sherrill a professor of political science at Hunter College in New York City. “There was a time when you could get away with appealing to the hard-core gun lobbyist in the primary and not worry that you were going to be haunted by it in the general election. But because of issues like violence in schools, guns are such a hot issue that candidates can’t take chances they used to take.”
In general, gun ownership in the U.S. is declining, and the majority of Americans (66 percent) favor stricter gun-control laws, according to two recent Gallup polls.
But candidates also know the political clout of the National Rifle Association must be taken seriously; the gun lobby can help turn elections.
National party platforms have held opposing views on gun issues for more than two decades. Though there are always exceptions, Democrats traditionally favor stricter gun-control laws.
Both candidates for the Democratic nomination, Vice President Al Gore and former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey, support some form of gun control. Gore proposed requiring state-issued licenses for future handgun bills while Bradley supports mandatory registration of all handguns.
Republicans historically have been more reluctant to place limits on gun owners. And politically, gun owners tend to be more conservative and belong to the Republican Party, according to Gallup polls.
The average American gun owner is likely to be white, middle-age and live in a rural area of the South or Midwest, according to the Gallup News Service.
In New Hampshire, a leading pro-gun candidate has not emerged among the Republicans. Bush, however, recently signed legislation allowing gun owners to carry concealed weapons in Texas.
Bush supports stronger enforcement of existing gun laws, instant background checks at gun shows, and the right to own guns to protect the home and family; he opposes what he terms government-mandated registration of guns for law-abiding citizens.
Still, some critics say he has ignored the issue completely on the campaign trail.
“Bush doesn’t want to be seen as embracing the gun folks with both arms,” said Robert Spitzer, a political science professor at the State University of New York at Cortland and author of “The Politics of Gun Control, President and the Congress.”
“(Missing the Gun Owners dinner) certainly is a sidestep, but it strikes me more as a sidestep looking down the road, especially for someone like Bush who is clearly looking to position himself in the relative mainstream.”
Ralph Demicco, owner of Riley’s Gun Store in Hooksett, N.H., said he tried to find out where Bush stood on 2nd Amendment rights but had trouble getting a response from the candidate’s staff. “I surmised (Bush) was walking the fence because the issue is too volatile,” said Demicco, whose store was visited by Republican candidate Steve Forbes.
“They’re afraid to become embroiled in the issue. They’re just avoiding a lot of discomfort,” Demicco said.
McCain, who supports the right to bear arms, has also pushed for gun-control legislation.
Peterson, of the New Hampshire Gun Owners, said the majority of firearms owners are behind Pat Buchanan and Forbes. But after the primaries, he predicts, gun owners will rally behind Bush.
To Donna Dees-Thomases, a New Jersey mother trying to make gun control a central campaign issue, firearms symbolize death and destruction. She is organizing an inaugural Million Mom March on Mother’s Day, an event designed to bring mothers to Washington, D.C., to talk to their senators and representatives.
“Mothers are terrified,” said Dees-Thomases, who has two small children and is a part-time publicist for comedian David Letterman. “They’re frustrated. Many of us, including myself, knew guns were a burning issue and chose to look the other way because we thought the gun lobby was too strong. We would hope the candidates would reject money from the NRA and look closely at the polls that say the majority of Americans want common-sense gun policy.”
But what Americans will likely see, said Bob Walker, president of Handgun Control and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, are political figures who distance themselves from the issue in public.
“What many candidates have done is quietly support the NRA, which operates through networks of mail and e-mail, to get the troops out, while remaining largely silent on the issue in front of the general public,” he said. “For candidates with a pro-gun record, the best strategy is to quietly let supporters know while remaining silent.”
