April 25, 2002

NRA counts on 9/11 momentum at convention

By Steve Friess
Special for USA TODAY

RENO — The National Rifle Association launches its 131st annual convention here this weekend touting a surge in public support following Sept. 11 and claiming its efforts are on target to expand concealed gun laws across the USA.

The three-day conference, to be attended by more than 40,000 NRA members, promises to be an upbeat patriotic rally full of tributes to Sept. 11 heroes and victims by singers Lee Greenwood, Vince Gill and the Oak Ridge Boys.

Executive Director Wayne LaPierre aims to capitalize on "increased momentum since Sept. 11" for laws permitting concealed guns, a key NRA priority.

Thirty states allow those who pass a background check and safety training to carry a concealed gun, while 12 others allow law enforcement to deny such permits. Seven states and the District of Columbia have outright bans. Vermont has no restrictions on concealed guns.

"What happened after Sept. 11 is that when people are unsettled and have a fear of the unknown and of a threat that could come from anywhere, they'd rather face that threat with a firearm than without one," LaPierre says.

But gun control advocates say the NRA is actually losing ground, noting that governors in Missouri and Colorado have threatened to veto bills expanding concealed gun rights and that top contenders for Wisconsin governor next year both oppose such laws.

"The NRA was expected to have a banner year this year with a pro-NRA president in the White House, a very pro-NRA attorney general, and playing on people's fears following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and all those reports of increased gun sales to rally their troops," says Luis Tolley, director of state legislative affairs for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "But the NRA has been blocked even in conservative, rural states because their agenda is just too extreme."

Some analysts say both sides are overstating their gains. "It is a wash — they're pretty much where they were pre-Sept. 11," says Robert Spitzer, political science professor at State University of New York at Cortland and author of The Politics of Gun Control.

Recent developments are mixed:

* A state appellate court in Ohio earlier this month overturned a state ban on concealed guns, but the Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the ruling while it considers the case.

* In Colorado, site of the 1999 Columbine High School shootings that led to a surge in anti-gun sentiment nationwide, legislation easing concealed gun restrictions is moving through the Legislature, with a recent poll showing 63% public support.

* A bill to legalize concealed guns in Wisconsin passed the state Assembly and a pivotal committee in the Senate, but Senate leaders killed it. Still, the measure moved farther than in previous tries.

* Legislatures in Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, Utah and Arizona have rejected or stalled measures aimed at expanding concealed gun rights this year.

A surge in gun sales immediately after Sept. 11 has waned. The FBI conducted 39% more background checks for prospective gun buyers in October 2001 over October 2000, but 10.5% fewer in January and February 2002 compared with the same period in 2001. California last year recorded the fewest handgun sales since tracking began in 1972.

"Terrorism has receded in people's concern since the first of the year, but so has gun control since Columbine," Spitzer says. "The NRA may be able to log another state or two (on concealed gun laws), but they would need a greater political change to move further along in many states."
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