Posted at 11:00 p.m. EDT Saturday, May 20, 2000

 

Charlotte.Com - The Charlotte Observer

Heston's Speech Leads Assault On Democrats

 

Al Gore is the day's political target

 

By Tim Whitmire

 

National Rifle Association leaders took direct aim Saturday at Vice President Al Gore, blasting the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and President Clinton for their support of tougher gun regulations.

 

Though Charlotte was passed over for this year's Republican National Convention, the NRA's 129th annual meeting featured anti-Gore rhetoric as sharp as any that likely will come from the GOP meeting in Philadelphia this summer.

 

"The NRA is baaaaack," intoned NRA President Charlton Heston, the bass-voiced actor known for his larger-than-life portrayals of Moses, Michelangelo and Judah Ben-Hur (for which he won a 1959 Best Actor Oscar).

 

"All of this spells very serious trouble for a man named Gore," he said.

 

Earlier, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre ripped Gore for his and Clinton's repeated criticisms of the NRA.

 

Instead of citing trigger locks as the cure-all for gun crimes in America, LaPierre said, Clinton and Gore should do more to prosecute gun-toting criminals, using laws already on the books.

 

And he accused Gore of deceiving American mothers with his embrace of last weekend's Million Mom March and its goal of registering guns and licensing gun owners.

 

"I believe most of those moms were well-meaning moms," LaPierre said. "But what we saw was a Misled Moms March. It wasn't a grass-roots campaign rally, but a Gore campaign rally, scripted by the White House.

 

"Well, manipulating women may be a Clinton legacy, but you can't misuse maternal instinct for political gain. You can't fool Mom."

 

The NRA has not formally endorsed a presidential candidate, though LaPierre has left no doubt the group will back the presumptive GOP nominee, Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

 

Bush was never mentioned during Saturday's speeches.

 

Though drained after a transcontinental flight from a movie set in Vancouver delivered him to Charlotte in the early morning, Heston was equally feisty.

 

The actor-turned-activist said the fight against Gore was the main reason he has agreed to serve an unprecedented third one-year term as the NRA's president.

 

"Washington hung around until the Revolutionary War was over. Roosevelt hung around until World War II was won. Reagan hung around until the Cold War was won. So if you want, I'll hang around until this one is won, too," Heston said, bringing his audience of several thousand to its feet.

 

Heston had the faithful standing again at the close of his speech. He talked about being given an antique musket after delivering a speech a decade ago at his first NRA annual meeting in St. Louis.

 

"Sacred stuff resides in that wooden stock and blue steel when ordinary hands can possess such an extraordinary instrument," Heston mused as an aide brought the gun from backstage.

 

Heston recalled how moved he was by the musket and said he would repeat his words from that occasion.

 

"I must say those fighting words especially for you, Mr. Gore," he said, dramatically raising the weapon over his head with his right hand: "From my cold, dead hands!"

 

Earlier, James Baker, head of the NRA lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action, said Clinton and Gore are more interested in reducing the ranks of American gun owners than in getting criminals off the street.

 

"Their target is the law-abiding, not the criminal," Baker said.

 

Baker told reporters the NRA plans to spend at least $10million on this fall's election, with much of that directed against Gore.

 

Gore campaign spokesman Chris Lehane responded by linking the NRA to Bush's campaign.

 

"George W. Bush and the NRA are working hip holster to hip holster to promote an extremist agenda," Lehane told The Associated Press. "Al Gore will continue to fight for common-sense gun reform to protect our families and he'll fight against the NRA and George W. Bush's extremist positions."

 

Republican U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma was to deliver the keynote address at Saturday night's banquet of NRA members.

 

The annual meeting came on the second day of the convention, which organizers expect to draw more than 40,000 NRA members to the Charlotte Convention Center this weekend.

 

Again Saturday, NRA members and their families watched game-calling contests, tried out the air rifle range and wandered through 170,000 square feet of exhibits showcasing the latest guns and shooting accessories. No guns were being sold.

 

The exhibition hall is open for a final day today, and the NRA's board of directors will meet Monday.

 

Members emerging from the morning meeting were inspired.

 

"It was electric," Tim Glowacki of Columbia said of the speeches by Heston and LaPierre. "The passion, the forthrightness, the tenacity "

 

Glowacki said NRA members are tired of being misrepresented by politicians eager to place more restrictions on gun ownership.

 

"I own a shotgun that works and a World War I trench rifle that's inoperative," he said. "I don't even know if it would work if I cleaned it.

 

"So I'm a wacko? Who likes to be called that?"

 

To make gains at the polls this November, said Howard Brown of Laytonsville, Md., candidates who oppose additional gun regulations simply need to talk about facts.

 

"They need to expose the half-truths of gun control," Brown said. "If it works, fine, but the facts don't support that. I think pro-gun candidates have to say they will enforce the existing laws."

 

Reach Tim Whitmire at (704) 358-5046 or twhitmir@charlotteobserver.com. The Associated Press contributed to this article.