Last summer, the National Rifle Association ran adverts claiming that Barack Obama would “ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns” if elected. The campaign didn’t do much for John McCain, but in every other respect it has been wildly successful: NRA membership is up 30% and gun control has disappeared from the administration’s list of priorities.

Americans have gone on an extraordinary gun-buying spree. The best available measure of over-the-counter sales is the number of requests for background checks filed with the FBI. From November to February, there were 5.5 million, up almost a third, year on year. Although May’s figures were the weakest since the boom began, gun shops were still selling 15% more weapons than in 2008.

Richard Feldman, a former regional director of the NRA, says the organisation thrives when the right to bear arms is under threat. When there is no such danger, it has to be invented. “You could almost sense the NRA fundraisers licking their chops because for the first time in eight years they had an identifiable bogeyman,” he says. “When people are fearful about losing something that’s the time you can separate them most easily from their money.”
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The fact is, President Obama is nowhere near being “the most anti-gun president in American history”. He wants to close a loophole allowing sales without background checks at gun shows, tighter registration of handguns and a national law against carrying concealed weapons. But on whether the second amendment guarantees the individual right to pack a pistol, he supports the conservative position laid down by the Supreme Court last June, which is that a federal handgun ban would be unconstitutional.

The gun lobby expects him to show his true colours soon. “Gun owners are politically savvy people and they realise that the new administration poses risks to their second amendment rights,” says NRA spokeswoman Vicky Cieplak.

Erich Pratt, the communications director of Gun Owners of America, agrees: “The fear is that once he’s done with the economy, he’ll set his sights on other parts of his agenda.”

As there is limited evidence in Obama’s legislative record, gun enthusiasts have concentrated on his appointments, in particular Eric Holder as attorney general and Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, both of whom support strict regulation. Sonia Sotomayor will be the next target, at her confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court.

To gun control group the Brady Campaign, creating the expectation that the government is coming to take guns away inevitably leads to violence. “The gun lobby continually drums up fear of something that will never happen,” says spokesman Daniel Vice. “Unfortunately, many extremists in America have been listening to that rhetoric.”

In April, Richard Poplawski opened fire on police with an AK47, after they were called to a domestic disturbance at his home in Pittsburgh, killing three. His best friend Ed Perkovic later said he was worried about “the Obama gun ban that’s on the way”.

Obama’s first session has been good to the gun lobby. A provision to allow concealed weapons in national parks was recently attached to a completely unrelated bill, regulating credit cards, to gain Republican support.

Democrats have apparently bought the NRA line that touting gun control legislation lost Al Gore the 2000 election and cost Bill Clinton control of Congress in 1994. The Brady campaign, citing an 80% success rate for its candidates last time around, claims this is a myth and has been “frustrated with the Obama administration’s performance”.

The latest Pew Centre research showed 45% of Americans think gun owners’ rights should be protected, compared to 49% who think it’s important to have regulation. Feldman says. “There is a pro-gun vote in this country, but not an anti-gun vote.”

Despite its successes, the NRA shows no sign of moderating its stance or easing up. Cieplak says: “There is always a threat to the second amendment.”

Source: Sunday Herald

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