NRA hopes to counter Kerry gun ploy

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Sen. John Kerry has been "extremely effective" in portraying himself as a gun enthusiast and hunter in the 2004 campaign, said Kayne B. Robinson, president of the National Rifle Association, whose group is preparing a push against the Democratic candidate in the final two weeks before Election Day.

The Massachusetts Democrat is "the most anti-gun candidate we've ever had," Mr. Robinson said during an hourlong interview with editors and reporters at The Washington Times. He cited more than 50 Senate votes to limit gun rights. He said the NRA is targeting its election efforts, which he said will total $20 million by Nov. 2, to battleground states.

Mr. Kerry has sought to portray himself as nonthreatening to gun owners, said the NRA president, who called that posture deceptive.

"All of the anti-gun organizations anyone has ever heard of that rate candidates have given [Mr. Kerry] a 100 percent rating, and all the pro-gun groups have given him an F," Mr. Robinson said.

An Iowa native and former assistant police chief in Des Moines, Mr. Robinson said the 4 million-member NRA has been working vigorously to get the truth out about Mr. Kerry's Senate voting record favoringanti-gun laws.

Mr. Kerry has neutralized much criticism from firearms owners, Mr. Robinson said, by using a political strategy developed by the group Americans for Gun Safety. That group's "seven-step blueprint" outlining "how Democrats can ... win on the gun issue" was announced in October 2003.

"Kerry bought into that strategy wholesale," Mr. Robinson said. "The only thing someone like Mr. Kerry has to do is take the tension out of gun ownership so it is not an election issue, and it is a brilliant strategy on his part."

The NRA has endorsed President Bush. Mr. Robinson said the administration has opened up to hunters federal lands that had been off limits and has opposed a United Nations small-arms treaty that could threaten Americans' Second Amendment rights. The NRA president said he doesn't blame Mr. Bush for not making gun rights a central campaign issue, given the political climate.

"As a civil rights organization, when the administration or Congress does nothing in our area, we see that as a good thing," Mr. Robinson said.

There are an estimated 70 million to 80 million gun owners in America and 16 million to 18 million hunters. But there is little evidence to show how many voters cast their ballot with gun rights on the top of their minds.