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 NYT
EDITORIAL
The Gun Lobby's Loss
Published: December 1, 2008
The gun lobby has long intimidated politicians
with its war chest and its trumpeted ability to deliver single-issue
voters, especially in tight races. After this year's election,
those politicians should be far less afraid and far more willing
to vote for sensible gun-control laws.
The National Rifle Association directed
much money and bile against Barack Obama. In false, misleading
and, fortunately, ineffective ads, fliers, mailers and Web
postings, the group said that Mr. Obama posed a "clear and
present danger" to Second Amendment rights and that his election
would mean a gun ban.
Despite that harsh barrage, Mr. Obama
won states with heavy gun ownership, including Virginia, Ohio
and Pennsylvania. That success should send a signal to other
politicians: consistency matters.
In fact, Mr. Obama has long been a supporter
of the argument, disputed by this page, that the Second Amendment
bestows an individual right to bear arms unrelated to raising
a militia. But Mr. Obama did not abandon his support for reasonable
gun-control laws. "Don't tell me we can't uphold the Second
Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals,"
he declared at the Democratic convention.
In Congressional races, the N.R.A. endorsed
candidates in 20 of the 25 races where Democrats picked up
seats from Republicans. We will not miss Florida's Tom Feeney
and Ric Keller, Idaho's Bill Sali, Michigan's Joe Knollenberg,
Ohio's Steve Chabot, Colorado's Marilyn Musgrave and Pennsylvania's
Phil English - willing champions of an extreme agenda.
On the Senate side, the N.R.A. spent considerable
sums to help Senator Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina and
Bob Schaffer, the Republican Senate candidate in Colorado.
Both were defeated.
And the N.R.A.'s poor showing was not
just a single isolated event.
A useful election analysis prepared by
the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence shows that its
2006 campaign effort also was a big flop.
We hope the trend continues. To fight
crime and keep Americans safe, this country needs sound gun-control
laws. To pass those laws as president, Mr. Obama will need
strong Congressional support.
More Articles in Opinion » A version of
this article appeared in print on December 2, 2008, on page
A32 of the New York edition.
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