Bush Victory Ensures Entree, NRA Says

The National Rifle Assn.’s second-ranking officer boasted at a closed meeting of NRA members earlier this year that if Republican nominee George W. Bush wins in November, “we’ll have . . . a president where we work out of their office.”

First Vice President Kayne Robinson added that the NRA enjoys “unbelievably friendly relations” with the Texas governor. Robinson, who is also chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, made the comments Feb. 17 before 300 members in Los Angeles. He also described 2000 as “a critical election” in which Bush’s success would ensure “a Supreme Court that will back us to the hilt.”

Bush’s presidential campaign denied he is that close to the NRA, citing instances in which he has disagreed with the group. “Neither the NRA nor any special interest sets the governor’s agenda,” said Bush spokesman Scott McClellan. “Gov. Bush sets his agenda based on his priorities and principles.”

Gun-control groups say Bush has rarely strayed from NRA orthodoxy and for years has aggressively promoted its political platform. The NRA said it is proud of its ties to Bush.

“Kayne has a good relationship with the governor from their proximity for long periods in Iowa, and we at the NRA have had very good relations with George Bush over his entire public life,” said chief NRA lobbyist James Baker. “Bush is very supportive of the rights of law-abiding gun owners, and he’s followed his words with deeds.”

Handgun Control Inc., a group that promotes firearms legislation, is featuring a tape of Robinson’s comments in a nationwide television ad campaign starting today.

Firearms are emerging as one of the hottest issues in the 2000 campaign. Vice President Al Gore is a staunch advocate of gun-control measures and a bitter critic of the NRA. Bush has taken some steps recently to distance himself from the group, even as the NRA seems to be making some headway in accusing the Clinton administration of dragging its feet in prosecuting firearms offenses.

At the same time, the NRA is becoming more openly aligned with the GOP this election season than ever before. In 1999 and 2000, the NRA has given the Republican Party $537,500 in “soft money” donations, which can be given to political parties in unlimited amounts. In the 1996 cycle, the NRA gave $87,725 in soft money to the GOP, and in 1997-98 it gave the Republicans $350,000. It donated no soft money to the Democrats in all those years.

NRA officials say they will spend more this election season than ever before--$12 million to $15 million, and possibly more--on ads, political donations, direct mail and phone banks. The investment is leading to rapid growth in NRA membership, they said--up 1 million, to 3.5 million.

Robinson was one of several NRA leaders who offered frank assessments of their political strategy at the Los Angeles meeting, which was videotaped. Handgun Control gave a copy of the tape to the Washington Post.

The NRA officials had traveled to California in part to speak with disgruntled members who believe that the NRA’s Virginia headquarters hasn’t been sufficiently aggressive or politically adept.

Their anger boiled over last year, after the NRA suffered a loss in California when Gov. Gray Davis signed four gun-control bills into law.

During the February visit, the NRA officials assured members that they will eventually help overturn the new gun laws and that NRA officials are aware of the high political stakes this year.

“We’re facing a critical election,” Robinson said. “All three branches of the federal government are at stake, first time in a long time. . . . There will be four, maybe five justices of the Supreme Court appointed in the first term of the next president. . . . If Gore is the president, every one of those people will be rabidly anti-gun.

“If we win, we’ll have a Supreme Court that will back us to the hilt,” added Robinson, a former police official in Des Moines. “If we win, we’ll have a president, with at least one of the people that’s running, a president where we work out of their office. Unbelievably friendly relations.”

Robinson didn’t mention Bush’s name, but NRA officials acknowledge he was referring to the Texas governor. The two men grew close over the last year, when Bush spent long stretches of time campaigning in Iowa, where Robinson, as GOP head, oversaw the party’s caucuses, NRA officials said.

Robinson also said that if the GOP loses its razor-thin control of the House, it will seriously injure the NRA. “Every one of those [now-friendly] committees could be run by people that not only dislike us, but hate us,” he said.