On Gun Control, Democrats Stake Out Moderate Positions

All of the leading contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination say they oppose new federal initiatives to license gun owners or to require the registration of handguns -- the principal gun-control measures Al Gore and Bill Bradley offered when they were running for the nomination in 2000.

Seeking a more moderate position on one of the most polarizing issues in American politics, the current Democratic contenders have pledged to enforce existing gun laws and to support the extension of the ban on assault weapons set to expire in September, according to a survey of candidates to be released today by Americans for Gun Safety, a centrist Democratic group based in Washington.

But apart from pledging to tighten background checks on individuals purchasing weapons at gun shows, the leading 2004 contenders have proposed few new limitations on gun owners.

“In 2000, Gore and Bradley vied to see who could go furthest left on guns,” John Cowan, the group’s president, said in a statement. “This year’s Democratic candidates are fighting over the 50-yard line.”

In practice, that instinct has blurred the difference between the rest of the field and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who has argued that Washington should leave most decisions on gun regulation to the states.

In the survey, Dean joins all the other Democrats who responded in supporting an extension of the assault weapon ban approved under President Clinton. And Dean, as he does on the campaign trail, also says he will support legislation to close the loophole that exempts purchases from unlicensed dealers at gun shows from the background checks required in gun stores under the 1993 Brady Bill.

But in the questionnaire, Dean adds: “I support the right of states to enact additional gun laws but do not favor additional federal gun laws beyond those discussed above.”

Without phrasing it so emphatically, the other Democrats take similar positions. (All the Democrats responded to the survey except the Rev. Al Sharpton. President Bush also did not respond.)

Reps. Dick Gephardt of Missouri and Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, and Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois all said they would seek to expand the ban to cover “copycat” weapons, which are exempted.

“I do not believe that manufacturers should be able to avoid the assault weapons ban by making cosmetic changes to banned weapons,” Lieberman wrote.

Bush has also said that he supports extending the assault weapon ban; in the 2000 campaign, he said he would support closing the gun show loophole with instant background checks.

Existing law allows law enforcement officials up to three days to conduct background checks for firearms purchased through gun stores, and most Democrats want to extend that system to gun shows. Moreover, Bush has not signaled that he will fight for passage of either an assault weapon ban or a gun show background check against congressional conservatives, who have already indicated opposition to both ideas.

Although neither Bush nor Gore stressed gun control during the 2000 race, the issue proved a significant dividing line in the electorate. About three-fifths of voters in households that possessed a gun voted for Bush, while about three-fifths in households without guns voted for Gore, according to exit polls.

Since then, many Democratic strategists have been searching for ways to lessen their conflicts with gun owners.

In the survey, the Democratic candidates united in opposition to legislation that would provide gun manufacturers and distributors broad protection against lawsuits from cities and other groups seeking damages for gun violence. (The House of Representatives passed such a bill last year, and Senate Republicans have pledged to consider it this year.) And, like Bush in 2000, they pledged to aggressively enforce existing federal gun laws.

“George Bush broke the only promise he made on gun safety,” said Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts in one response. “The ... Justice Department has done virtually nothing to enforce 20 of the 22 major federal gun laws.”

But apart from dark horses Kucinich and Braun, none of the contenders embraced either Gore’s plan for a federal gun license or Bradley’s proposal to register handguns.

“Our goal should be to provide our police officers with the most effective and up-to-date tools necessary to make our streets safer,” Gephardt wrote.

Asked to describe their personal experiences with guns, Dean and Lieberman said they had not owned firearms, and Kerry, Gephardt and Edwards all stressed that they had hunted while growing up. Retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark, who served in the Army for 34 years, wrote, “I probably have more experience with firearms than anyone in the race.”

In similar terms, the Democrats insisted that their experiences would allow them to balance the rights of gun owners against concerns about crime and gun violence.

“I also know full well about the power and danger of guns,” Clark wrote. “That is why I also believe those rights come with responsibilities like safe storage, firearms training and effective laws to keep them out of the wrong hands.”