Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 16, 1992 TAG: 9202160097
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
THE NRA'S LEGISLATIVE HIT MAN
He's a large reason why Virginians can walk into a gun store and instantly buy an arsenal of pistols, semiautomatic weapons and armor-piercing bullets.Meet Charles Cunningham, a 240-pound mountain of bulk, beard and brains who is the chief Virginia lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. He can shoot holes through a gun control bill with machine-gun speed.
Cunningham, 32, is perhaps the most feared lobbyist at Virginia's Capitol. Unlike others, he makes little effort to seek cozy friendships and political compromise. For eight years, he has been on a search-and-destroy mission for gun-control bills and their legislative supporters.
Backed by the resources of the NRA, he puts vise-like pressure on those who consider anti-gun votes and commits thousands of dollars to defeating NRA opponents at the polls.
"It's a very simple equation," said Steve Haner, executive director of the General Assembly's Republican caucus. "If you vote with the NRA, you're a friend for life. If you vote against them once, they'll get mad at you. If you vote against them twice, they're going to come after you."
"Is he effective? Hell, yes," said William Hutchens, acting director of the House Democratic Caucus. "Just look at some of the legislators who weren't re-elected last year."
Cunningham, a blunt-spoken, seldom-smiling 17th generation descendant of Pocohontas, can barely mask his contempt for gun-control advocates.
"These are people who hate guns and hate people who own guns," he said. "When it gets down to defining issues, they have trouble."
He is no more charitable to a growing group of police who have flocked to Richmond in recent years to plead for gun restrictions.
"They're politician policemen - guys looking for personal benefits and promotions," he said. "They're spending taxpayer dollars testifying here instead of being out on the street trying to solve homicides."
Cunningham, in short, is a true believer in the NRA philosophy that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to own and purchase firearms at will. The solution to violence, he says, lies not in gun control but in putting criminals in jail and teaching family values.
"You can put a gun on a table and 200 years from now it would still be there," he said. "It's only when a person with evil intent picks up a firearm that it becomes dangerous."
Cunningham, a father of three, has six firearms at his Falls Church home. He is a native of Hampton, a former student government president and conservative activist at James Madison University, and an avowed opponent of "big brother government." He monitors legislation here and in seven other states for the NRA.
In Virginia, he has led the NRA's successful opposition to a three-day waiting period for gun purchases, limits of one purchase per month or 12 per year, restrictions on the sale of semiautomatic weapons and a ban on the sale of armor-piercing Teflon bullets.
Cunningham argues that waiting periods and purchase limits "harass the law-abiding majority of gun owners." Semiautomatic weapons, he says, are merely "ugly guns" that are otherwise no different from conventional firearms; Teflon bullets are no more powerful than other ammunition and are needed lubricant for certain hunting guns.
Richmond Police Maj. Charles Bennett, who has been lobbying for years for gun controls, chafes at the arguments.
"There's absolutely no compromise in the NRA," he said. "We're not talking about taking away the rights of citizens to own firearms. We're talking about restricting access to guns that are the weapons of choice for drug dealers and bullets that are designed to kill police officers."
Even some of his legislative allies bristle at Cunningham's hard line. Cunningham takes that as a compliment. "Once gun opponents get their noses under the tent, their aim is to keep guns out of the hands of all citizens," he says.
Besides, he adds, the NRA has not hesitated to fire lobbyists elsewhere who were too quick to compromise. "Very little happens in Virginia just because of me."
While legislators praise Cunningham's work, they say the power of the NRA provides his clout.
The NRA claims 80,000 dues-paying members in Virginia. That's an average of 2,000 per Senate district and 800 per House district, although membership - and the NRA's clout - tends to be larger in rural areas and smaller in cities. As fast as bullets, the organization fires off postcards warning members whenever it thinks a legislator may be taking an anti-gun stand.
The cards often generate hundreds of irate calls and letters to the offender.
"I spent more of my time dealing with these calls than I care to remember," said former Del. Samuel Glasscock, D-Suffolk, a gun-control advocate defeated with NRA help last year. "I was called a Nazi, a Communist and every name conceivable."
The tactics "created a degree of fear," he added. "It made it easy for some members to say `I don't need these problems; I'm going to go along with the NRA.' "
The mailings' effectiveness was demonstrated last year, when House Democrats met privately to discuss voting as a bloc for a three-day waiting period. Cunningham that night sent warning mailgrams - at $2.50 apiece - to every NRA member in Virginia.
Several rural legislators who sat quietly at the meeting but opposed the waiting period were horrified to learn that their districts had been flooded with letters tying them to a secret deal for gun control.
"It angered me because I never agreed to anything," said Del. Whittington Clement, D-Danville, an NRA member who received the mailgram at home. "I believe these tactics lose friends for them and I told them I was sick of it."
Cunningham apologized to Clement. But unless other legislators made it clear they would oppose the measure, he continued sending mail into their districts. Eventually, 21 Democrats broke ranks and voted with Republicans to defeat to waiting period.
"The NRA can be extremely intimidating to the young members" of the assembly, said House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton.
In addition to the mailing list, Cunningham can call on the NRA's considerable bankroll. Last year, the NRA spent $137,000 on Virginia legislative races, according to state records. Cunningham said the actual total is even higher because the NRA is not required to report mailings only to its members.
During election years, Cunningham grades each legislator's fealty to NRA positions. Non-incumbents are judged on their responses to a questionnaire. The marks are mailed to NRA members.
But even some who receive an A+ do not get NRA backing. Cunningham said endorsements are reserved for friendly candidates in tight contests. "Our goal is to help our friends and get the bad legislators out," he said.
Can the NRA make a difference in elections?
"You bet," said Sen. Robert Russell, R-Chesterfield, a gun-control opponent who won a tough race last year with the aid of $4,500 in NRA contributions and complimentary mailings.
"They tell me there are 800 NRA members in my district who vote on a single issue and I don't doubt it," Russell said. "Any politician who doesn't respect that won't be around very long."
The NRA gave $6,300 to Sen. Edgar Robb, R-Charlottesville, who narrowly defeated longtime anti-gun incumbent Thomas Michie Jr. It contributed almost $3,600 to Sen. Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo, R-Fincastle, $4,084 to Del. Willard Finney, D-Rocky Mount, and almost $2,700 to Del. Robert Nelms, R-Suffolk, who beat Glasscock.
Still, an NRA endorsement does not guarantee victory. Many of the lobby's favorite legislators - including Sen. Johnny Joannou, D-Portsmouth; Sen. Granger MacFarlane, D-Roanoke, and Del. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, were defeated last year despite NRA support.
Cunningham considers 1991 a good year largely because of the defeat of Sen. Moody Stallings, D-Virginia Beach. In just four years, Stallings became the NRA's most outspoken Virginia critic. He sponsored successful legislation that requires gun sellers to run computer checks of buyers' police records.
The NRA contributed $1,420 to Stallings' opponent, Republican Kenneth Stolle. It spent another $2,500 on a full-page newspaper ad that featuring a picture of a scowling Stallings with his eyes rolled to the right and asked: "Why do Virginians have a tough time believing this man? Because Sonny Stallings has a tough time telling the truth."
Stallings lost by 2,000 votes.
"I don't have much respect for Chuck Cunningham and his friends," he said. "Their underlying tone was always that they were going to beat me. Maybe they did, but I think there were other factors involved."
Today, the ad is framed on a wall behind Cunningham's desk at NRA headquarters in Washington.
"Did we target him? Yeah," said Cunningham," cracking a rare smile. "Stallings was a grandstander and he made himself a lightning rod for gun control."
Memo: CORRECTION