Friday, Jul 4, 2008
1) Sen. Trent Lott, Senate Majority Leader, R-Miss.: One of the most powerful legislators in the world, Lott was also one of the keynote speakers at the NRA's 127th national convention in Philadelphia in June 1998. "You are the mainstream of America," Lott said, adding that if Congress were to pass further gun restrictions, "we might as well fold up the flag and melt down the Liberty Bell." Whenever possible, he's used any procedural motion at his disposal to shoot down any and every gun-control law Democrats have proposed. "And he tries to appear reasonable as he does it, which is his trick," says lobbyist Marie Carbone of Handgun Control Inc.
2) Rep. Tom DeLay, House Majority Whip, R-Texas: What would it take for Majority Whip DeLay to change his mind on the issue of whether or not too many nut jobs have too much access to high-powered weapons? Would a crazed gunman have to infiltrate the capital and start firing at DeLay himself? Not hardly. That's exactly what happened one year ago last month, and DeLay is still as convinced as ever that the problem is, as he puts it, God, not guns. Since Republicans took control of the House in November 1994, not one gun-control measure has passed the House other than an attempt to repeal the assault weapons ban of '94. That measure passed the House in 1996 and was subsequently ignored by the Senate. An incredibly effective whip, DeLay deserves much of the credit for this track record.
3. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho: Craig, an NRA board member, has long opposed even small seatbelt-like safety measures for guns, such as trigger locks. After the Senate passed the Juvenile Justice Bill, Craig said, "the Democrats and the vice president ... feel restricting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens is more important than combating the plague of youth violence infecting this nation." During the recent gun-control debate in the House, Craig offered an amendment that he claimed would close the gun-show loophole, but actually weakened federal law. The next day, after discovering what the Craig amendment actually did, even conservatives like Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., were offended and rebelled, insisting on another vote for an amendment more substantial than Craig's.
4) Rep. Dick Armey, House Majority Leader, R-Texas: Armey's clout has diminished ever since he lied about his role in the attempted coup of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich, but as majority leader he's still somewhat large and in charge. And he's anti-gun control. "He's another crafty one," says Handgun Control's Carbone. "He doesn't rail against gun control on the floor like [Rep.] Bob Barr, but behind closed doors he makes sure that it's hard or downright impossible for gun-control measures to make it out onto the floor -- or out of committee, even."
5) Gov. George W. Bush, R-Texas: Though he has yet to officially move to Washington, as governor of the nation's second largest state, Bush has continued to do the bidding of the NRA -- an organization from which his father resigned in protest after its reference to government agents as "jack-booted thugs." Bush the younger, however, signed a lax law bestowing the right to carry a loaded concealed weapon upon almost anyone, and he refused to require background checks at gun shows -- despite repeated requests from the police chiefs of the seven largest cities in his state. His one action to date on the issue was largely symbolic, and pro-NRA: He outlawed the ability of any Texas city to sue the gun industry -- at a time when no city was even seriously contemplating doing so. On the presidential campaign trail, when asked what he thinks about gun control, Bush continually responds, curtly, "I support the Second Amendment." Despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of federal courts have ruled against that interpretation of the Second Amendment, for some people it's still that simple. Bush appears to be one of them.
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