An Ex-President Aims True : Bush takes a stand against the gun lobby’s paranoid rhetoric

During his presidency, George Bush was no champion of gun control. However, by resigning his lifetime membership in the National Rifle Assn. he has sent an unmistakable message to the nation about the depths the gun lobby is plumbing with its irresponsible and paranoid rhetoric, especially in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing.

The impetus for the Bush resignation was a NRA fund-raising letter that labeled federal law enforcement agents “jackbooted thugs” and likened them to people “wearing Nazi bucket helmets” who wanted to “attack law-abiding citizens.”

The former President, now back living in Texas, rightly called the solicitation deeply offensive--not only to him but to the entire country. He also did something Republican congressional leaders have so far failed to do: put a human face on the federal agents responsible for enforcing the nation’s gun laws. “He was no Nazi,” Bush said of Secret Service agent Al Whicher, who was killed in the April 19 bombing. “He was a kind man, a loving parent, a man dedicated to serving his country.”

In quitting the NRA, Bush has showed praiseworthy courage. And by speaking out against irresponsible statements by the gun lobby he has set a high standard that we believe the Republicans who aspire to the office he once held--notably Sens. Bob Dole and Phil Gramm--should follow.