From: [V--ta--e] at [phoenix.net]
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc
Subject: NRA BACKS CONGRESSIONAL PROBE OF MILITIAS
Date: Tue, 23 May 95 19:31:54 PDT


NRA Backs Congressional Probe of Militias 

B. Drummond Ayres Jr. of The New York Times

PHOENIX - Wayne LaPierre Jr., the executive vice president of
the National Rifle Association, said Sunday that his organization
favored congressional hearings into the scope and intent of the
heavily armed "citizen militias" that are proliferating around 
the country.

"We condemn hate groups, terrorist groups," LaPierre said. "We 
have never had anything to do with any of these paramilitary-type 
groups you see on television. That's not the National Rifle Association."
The association, the most powerful gun lobby in the country, 
has suffered image problems since two sympathizers of gun-toting 
right-wing groups were arrested as suspects in the Oklahoma City 
bombing.

LaPierre's comments Sunday on the CBS News program "Face the
Nation," made as the association wound up its 124th annual convention,
seemed in part to be damage control and even included a promise that 
the association would be "more careful" in its choice of language.
In fact, some association officials, who would speak only anonymously,
said the organization was beginning to worry a bit about its
image, especially since pollsters began reporting a falloff in
public approval. But they cautioned that while LaPierre might endorse
an investigation into paramilitary groups and the association
might tinker with its image and language, there would be no significant
change in its basic goal of promoting and defending the right to
bear arms - and, most immediately, repealing the ban on assault
weapons that Congress passed last year.

By sticking to that goal, the officials said, the association
built itself into a formidable political force in the country,
able to influence elections, notably the 1994 congressional elections,
because its message appealed to a significant conservative voting
bloc. That message, they added, will increasingly include not
just an unyielding defense of the right to bear arms but also
a defense of any other private right the federal government attempts 
to intrude upon.

"Mess with one constitutional right and sooner or later you'll 
start messing with them all," one official said.
During his national television appearance on Sunday morning and
throughout his convention appearances, LaPierre, the policy chief
for the NRA, seemed to confirm much of what the other association 
officials said privately.

In a speech to the convention on Saturday, he not only talked
about guns but also spoke at length about other matters of concern
to conservatives, among them unfunded government mandates, property 
rights, red tape and environmental laws.

On Sunday, while he went further than ever before in criticizing
paramilitary groups, he pulled up short of the blanket condemnation
of them that anti-gun forces have made in demanding congressional 
hearings.

"They have a right to freedom of speech," he continued. "They
even have a right to own a firearm. But if they advocate violence,
if they advocate overthrow of government - any type of illegal
activity - that's where the line needs to be drawn. And we would 
certainly throw anyone out of the NRA that advocated those points."
LaPierre was careful to couple his endorsement of an investigation
of paramilitary groups with a demand that there also be a congressional
investigation into what he termed the "excesses" of federal firearms 
agents in enforcing gun-control laws.

He avoided resorting to his earlier, much criticized characterization
of the agents as "jackbooted government thugs," saying his choice
of language was poor. That language has been criticized in recent days 
by President Clinton, former President George Bush and many members 
of Congress.

But LaPierre left no doubt that his association still firmly
believes that the agents had been too heavy-handed, especially
during a fiery raid after a standoff with the Branch Davidian
religious cult in Waco, Texas, in 1993 that led to about 80 deaths.
He also left no doubt that the association would continue to
press hard in Congress for the repeal of the ban on the sale 
of assault rifles, despite polls showing widespread public support 
for it.

But the chief sponsor of the ban, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.),
said on the same program that she had rounded up enough support
to prevent the NRA's allies from prevailing if the issue comes
to a vote.

"We have more than enough votes in the Senate to stop a repeal,"
Feinstein said. "Things have changed. As I go from member to
member and ask them about their position today, I have members
that tell me even though they didn't vote for (the ban) the last 
time around, they would not vote to repeal it because they believe 
it sends the wrong message."

(The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.

Story Number:01043 Story Date: 5/22/95