The Oval Office: An NRA Bull’s-Eye

A top official of the National Rifle Assn. who is also chairman of the Iowa Republican Party predicts that if George W. Bush wins in November the NRA will be right inside the Oval Office when it comes to influencing gun control policies and, moreover, will be able to count on “a Supreme Court that will back us to the hilt.” Putting its money where First Vice President Kayne Robinson’s mouth is, the NRA so far in the 1999-2000 election cycle has given $537,500 in soft money to the Republican Party and says it plans to spend up to $15 million more on ads, donations, direct mail and the like. That kind of largess buys a lot of respectful attention.

Robinson’s remarks were captured on video when he addressed NRA members in Los Angeles in February. Vice President Al Gore’s campaign is now making the most of them in TV ads that suggest that as president Bush would stand ready to do the NRA’s bidding.

Bush dismisses Robinson’s exuberant comments--among them that the NRA enjoys “unbelievably friendly relations” with Bush--by saying he intends to be his own man. And, of course, there’s an element of a lobbyist’s boastfulness in Robinson’s words.

Bush’s record as governor of Texas, however, shows no discomfort with the NRA’s positions.

The NRA’s absolutist anti-gun control views are not shared by most Americans, who support reasonable measures to reduce gun violence. Yet that will not deter the NRA from spending a ton of money to try to get itself a friendly president and Congress.