From: Erich Pratt, 74741,662 TO: Barbara Byer, 73622,1250 DATE: 8/10/96 6:02 PM RE: GOA: Kemp on A-W bans Dole and Kemp: Two peas in a pod when it comes to banning guns by Gun Owners of America 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151 (703)321-8585, http://www.gunowners.org (Saturday, August 10) -- Now that Bob Dole has chosen Jack Kemp for his running mate, gun owners will naturally wonder if Kemp is any better than Dole on the gun issue. The following may help gun owners decide. On Meet the Press (3/7/93), Kemp said, "I believe in the constitutional right to own guns. But you don't need . . . assault weapons like AK47 submachine guns or Uzis to be a hunter or a legitimate sportsman. Ban it any way you can." [Source: Martin Schram, "Kemp Takes Gun Position," 1993 Newspaper Enterprise Association, 7 April 1993.] After this infamous interview, Rowland Evans and Robert Novak had this to say about Jack Kemp's flip-flops and his views on banning firearms: "I couldn't believe that was Jack Kemp saying those things," mourned a puzzled middle-road Representative James Ramstad of Minnesota. "He's still my man, but it made we wonder." For many other Republicans baffled by Kemp's performance on NBC's "Meet the Press" on March 7 [of 1993], he may no longer be their man. On one issue after another, Kemp abandoned and rejected positions dear to a conservative movement that had enshrined him. . . . He came out for outlawing assault weapons. [Source: Evans and Novak, printed in the San Francisco Chronicle (3/16/93).] Neal Knox, first Vice-President of the NRA, also points out that Kemp's record has not been perfect, even when in Congress. In 1985, Kemp voted for the "Biaggi-Thurmond-Metzenbaum bill prohibiting armor-piercing (solid hard metal) bullets and ammunition." Kemp's vote, says Knox, was "opposed by all pro-gun organizations except NRA." [Source: The Firearms Coalition, Congressional Box Score, 1985-88.] Kemp's views on banning semi-automatics should be a "complement" to Bob Dole. The Washington Times reported on July 12, 1996 that, "Mr. Dole yesterday changed his position again and vowed -- as Mr. Clinton already has -- to veto any attempt to repeal the [gun] ban. . . . Mr. Dole went even further, saying he would lobby fellow Republicans to abandon efforts to repeal the ban on assault-style firearms." And while Senator, Bob Dole specifically blocked efforts to repeal the gun ban. In May of 1995, Sen. Dole asked for a "unanimous consent" agreement that kept the gun ban repeal from being voted on. Dole said, "I further ask unanimous consent that no assault weapons amendments be in order to the terrorism bill . . . " (Congressional Record, 5/26/95, p. S 7610). For more information on Bob Dole's gun control record, visit the GOA website at http://www.gunowners.org.