THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 16, 1995 TAG: 9505160008
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Former President George Bush has acted with customary integrity in severing his connection with the National Rifle Association and taking it publicly to task for an inflammatory assault on ``government law-enforcement officials, who are out there, day and night, laying their lives on the line for all of us.''
Bush describes himself as a gun owner, avid hunter and Life Member of the NRA who has agreed with most of the organization's objectives. But Bush's stomach was turned by a poisonous fund-raising letter attempting to fan fears of the federal government.
``I was outraged when, even in the wake of the Oklahoma City tragedy, Mr. Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of NRA, defended his attack on federal agents as `jack-booted thugs.' To attack Secret Service agents or ATF people or any government law-enforcement people as `wearing Nazi bucket helmets and black storm trooper uniforms' wanting to `attack law- abiding citizens' is a vicious slander on good people.''
In a commencement address Sunday at William and Mary, Bush returned to the subject. He said citizens have a responsibility to oppose such ideas. ``And I think we all ought to speak up against the excesses of these crazy people who put (law enforcement personnel) in a bad light and refer to them as Nazis and jack-booted thugs.''
This echoed President Clinton's controversial remarks in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing when he called for a repudiation of ``promoters of paranoia.'' On that occasion Clinton said, ``It is time we all stood up and spoke against that kind of reckless speech and behavior. . . . When they say things that are irresponsible, that may have egregious consequences, we must call them on it. The exercise of their freedom of speech makes our silence all the more unforgivable.''
When both Bush and Clinton line up against the kind of tactics it's been employing, the NRA should get the message that a consensus has developed that opposes its rhetoric. The group has every right to lobby for its positions, but when it spreads disinformation or seeks to inflame citizens against their government in order to raise money and increase membership, it invites censure. Bush was right to use his stature to warn the organization against extremism. It should heed the warning. by CNB