Gop Rivals Vow To Kill Gun Laws

Republican presidential candidates told New Hampshire gun owners what they wanted to hear at a Sunday forum, pledging to repeal the Brady handgun control law, the ban on assault weapons and “repeal Bill and Hillary Clinton.”

The promise about the Clintons, made by commentator Pat Buchanan set the tone for the afternoon political forum, sponsored by the Gun Owners of New Hampshire.

Buchanan and Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, the only major GOP candidates attending the gathering, pledged to eliminate much of the federal government’s role in regulating firearms - including an end to the Brady law, which requires a background check and five-day waiting period for prospective gun purchasers, and a ban on a list of weapons deemed semiautomatic assault weapons.

There also were pledges from the candidates to eliminate federal regulations on guns as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

“We’ll do what young kids do when they steal a car. We’ll take that agency and break it up for used parts,” said Buchanan.

Gramm, a staunch supporter of the National Rifle Association, who has been pictured on the cover of the gun lobby’s magazine, told the gathering of about 700 at a downtown hotel convention center, that he had been an avid gun collector and hunter even before entering politics.

If elected, Gramm claimed, he would be the first president who was a true hunter since Theodore Roosevelt.

Both President Clinton and former President Bush have gone on hunting trips for ducks or quail while in office.

Gramm cited his wife’s trophy for pistol shooting and warned criminals who might try to break into his mother’s home that “Mama’s got a .38 Special and she knows how to use it.”