The Same Old NRA

Following Monday’s election of actor Charlton Heston as president of the National Rifle Assn., the group’s executive vice president exulted: “The NRA has been demonized by the media and this is a way to say, ‘Hey, Moses is on our side.’ ”

Well, yes, the NRA’s new leader has parted a celluloid Red Sea, but his election and a new advertising campaign aren’t likely to win many converts so long as basic NRA policies remain unchanged.

The ad campaign is designed to improve the image of the association’s 2.8 million members by portraying them as honest, mainstream Americans who own guns only for sport and self-protection and who practice strict safety in the handling of their weapons. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s a safe bet that the vast majority of NRA members are deeply serious about proper handling of firearms and promoting the association’s safety programs.

The problem is that the well-financed agenda of the NRA leadership is also devoted to promoting the myth that the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was meant to absolutely prohibit any governmental regulation of weapons. The lobbying clout of the NRA and its allies has stalled a legislative attempt to renew California’s ban on the sale and possession of military-style assault weapons. Dangerous junk guns still can be bought on the cheap, and innocent people continue to be shot to death with weapons casually kept around the house.

Too often, victims have died at the hands of friends or loved ones precisely because firearms were readily available in a moment of anger or alcohol-fueled passion, as might have been the case in the recent death of television comedian Phil Hartman, shot by his wife, Brynn, who later committed suicide.

The concept of a more moderate NRA was belied by the hearty reception that the organization’s Philadelphia convention gave Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) when he reiterated the canard that the way to stop criminals is with “a well-armed public.” The idea that more guns would lead to less violence is ludicrous.

Nonetheless, we welcome Heston to the NRA leadership and invite him to debate the right of Americans to bear arms and, indeed, the need of Americans to bear arms. We also call on him to modify the NRA’s policies and join the mainstream in agreeing that modest and sensible control of deadly weapons is in the national interest.