Editorial: Gun lobby loses some of its clout

Friday, May 21, 1999 | 9:56 a.m.

In the Senate, Vice President Al Gore cast a tie-breaking vote Thursday, resulting in the passage of a much-needed plan to require mandatory background checks on those making purchases at gun shows. Just last week a nearly identical plan offered by Democrats was defeated, but sensing a public relations disaster, many Republicans reversed themselves and sought a new vote this week. Some Republicans still thought the mandatory background check provisions went too far, but fortunately enough of them changed their minds to secure the plan's passage.

Also in the Senate, a proposal to require safety locks or secure containers to be sold with every handgun passed easily on Tuesday, 78-20. This was a marked departure from a similar vote last July when the Senate rejected the safety lock legislation by a 61-39 vote. Even the National Rifle Association, which last year led the charge against the safety lock legislation, this time did not oppose the long-overdue measure.

Meanwhile in the House, Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who previously has voted against gun control legislation, has had a change of heart. Hastert indicated in a Tuesday interview with the Associated Press that the minimum age for handgun purchases should be raised from 18 to 21. "I'm just saying 21 is basically a standard of adulthood, and there's probably a uniformity that fits there," he said. Hastert added that background checks should be required for all sales at gun shows. "I think there needs to be uniformity in what they do at gun shows and what they do in a retail business."

This is a dramatic turnaround for Hastert. In 1994 he voted against a bill that would have banned the sale of some assault-style weapons. Hastert also voted against the 1993 Brady legislation, which put in place a three-day waiting period for handgun buyers and created a system of instant background checks that supplanted it. The key now is whether Hastert will be able to assemble a coalition with Democrats that can find common ground on gun control legislation. This will be a huge test for Hastert, who so far this year has been criticized as a Speaker who has failed to exert his leadership on key issues, ranging from campaign finance reform to the military conflict in Yugoslavia.

The violence in Colorado and Georgia, and public support for modest gun control legislation, apparently are starting to sink in on Washington lawmakers. The NRA is a powerful force within the Republican Party, but this is one of those times that principle on an issue should overcome a party's fealty to a special interest group.