Post by OverseerCWFJ on Sept 13, 2004 18:15:33 GMT -5
Kerry and Bush Trade Charges on End of Weapons Ban, and Crime
By DAVID STOUT and CHRISTINE HAUSER
Published: September 13, 2004
ASHINGTON, Sept. 13 — Senator John Kerry accused President Bush today of caving in to "powerful friends" in the gun lobby in allowing a decade-old ban on assault weapons to expire. The White House immediately countered by accusing Mr. Kerry of indulging in "another false attack" in trying to capitalize on the gun-control issue.
"George Bush made a choice today," Mr. Kerry told an audience here. "He chose his powerful friends in the gun lobby over the police officers and the families he promised to protect. The president made the wrong choice."
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Mr. Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, released details of a crime prevention plan that he said would "set America in a new direction" if he is elected president in November.
But the White House, through its spokesman Scott McClellan, said the country was already on the right track in combatting crime, that Mr. Bush has consistently supported reauthorization of the assault weapons ban, and that "Congress is the one that sets the legislative timetable."
The assault weapons ban prohibits, by name, the sale of 19 kinds of semiautomatic weapons that have the features of guns used by the military, and also outlaws magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. In their campaigns, the presidential candidates have criticized each other's records on the wider issues of crime and gun control.
The law expires at midnight Eastern time.
Mr. Bush has said that he backs the ban and would sign an extension into law, but he has not put pressure on lawmakers to renew it.
A statement released by Mr. Bush's campaign today said that the president's policies had significantly reduced crime in America's communities, and that the "violent crime victimization rate" is at a 30-year low.
"During President Bush's first three years in office, the violent crime rate dropped 21 percent from the last two years of the previous administration," the statement said.
Violent crime is at its lowest rate in decades, and surveys have shown that crime is not nearly as hot a political issue as it was in the 1980's and early 1990's. Experts on crime cite many factors in the decline, including the ebbing of the crack-cocaine epidemic. Experts have also noted that crime rates fluctuate according to the population of men in the 18-to-25 age group.
Polls show that at least two-thirds of Americans support the renewal of the assault weapons ban. Efforts to do so have faltered this year on Capitol Hill as the Republicans who control Congress vowed to let ban expire. Some Democrats believe that Al Gore's vocal support for gun control contributed to his loss in the 2000 election. The Democrats also bitterly recall the elections of 1994, the year President Bill Clinton signed the assault-weapons ban, when they lost control of the House of Representatives.
Democrats have lately accused Mr. Bush of being afraid to spend any of his political capital in speaking up in favor of the ban. Mr. Kerry has said that the president's stance could even put more assault weapons in the hands of terrorists.
Mr. McClellan said today that the latter charge is "a false attack, another false attack from Senator Kerry.`
Mr. McClellan, speaking to reporters on Air Force One as Mr. Bush was flying to Michigan, said the administration has a record of vigorously enforcing gun-control laws and "stepping up prosecutions of crimes committed with guns."
Mr. McClellan was asked repeatedly why the president did not speak out forcefully for the assault weapons ban that he nominally supports. When a reporter asked if Mr. Bush was just as happy to let the ban lapse, Mr. McClellan replied, "Oh, you know that's a ridiculous assertion."
Mr. Kerry accepted the endorsement of the National Association of Police Organizations, a coalition of police unions and associations. The Kerry campaign has used the ban as a way to highlight the nominee's support of both gun rights and control, a message conveyed again today in his remarks.
He has tried to court rural voters by portraying himself as a hunter. His plans have included unveiling what he calls a sportsmen's bill of rights that includes the right to bear arms as well as the right of access to fishing and hunting habitats.
"George Bush gave police officers his word that he would keep the ban," Mr. Kerry said. "But when it came time to extend it, Bush's powerful friends in the gun lobby asked him to look the other way. He just couldn't resist, and he said sure.
"He chose to make the job of terrorists easier and make the job of Americas police officers harder. That's wrong," Mr. Kerry said. "Let me be very clear. I support the Second Amendment. I've been a hunter all my life. But I don't think we need to make the job of the terrorists any easier."
The Associated Press quoted the campaign spokesman for Mr. Bush, Steve Schmidt, as saying: "Senator Kerry has spent his entire 20-year career in the U.S. Senate fighting against Second Amendment rights" to keep and bear arms.
Mr. Kerry's plan, according to the statement today, said he and his running mate John Edwards would restore the assault weapons ban, because "hunters don't need and don't use AK-47s, but criminals and terrorists do".
The ban's supporters acknowledge that the law has weaknesses. They assert that some federal statistics showing crimes traceable to assault weapons have declined by two-thirds since it went into effect.
Still, another study, commissioned by the Justice Department, found only a small decline in crimes committed with semiautomatic assault weapons and said that it had been offset by a steady increase in crimes committed by other guns equipped with large-capacity magazines.
The National Rifle Association supports the president's re-election and has made blocking an extension of the assault weapons ban its legislative priority.
Mr. Kerry's aides have circulated a poll by the National Annenberg Election Survey at the University of Pennsylvania showing that 68 percent of the public —including 57 percent of gun owners and even 32 percent of N.R.A. members — want the ban extended.
David Stout reported from Washington for this article, and Christine Hauser reported from New York.