By MIKE NORMAN
mnorman@star-telegram.com
Maybe Hurst Mayor Richard Ward should have known better.
The truth is, even I didn’t predict what has happened to him since the
Star-Telegram published Ward’s Sept. 28 guest commentary. Maybe we’ve both learned a lesson about the people who live around us.
Ward called a couple of weeks ago to tell me that he’d been deluged with calls and e-mails from members of the National Rifle Association complaining about his membership in the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition. The coalition says about 400 mayors nationwide are members.
The callers accused Ward of trying to take away their guns.
He wanted to write a commentary explaining that he does not. Maybe a published explanation would get some people off his back, he reasoned.
That’s not what happened. Maybe he should have expected as much, given the passion on both sides of the gun-control debate.
What the coalition wants is to end the legal loophole that allows people to buy guns from unlicensed sellers at gun shows and flea markets without the background check that would be required if they bought the same gun from a licensed dealer.
Ward says it’s an effort to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.
The NRA and its supporters object, saying the move would further restrict gun rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment.
None of the feedback has changed Ward’s mind, nor did his newspaper commentary slow the pace of calls and e-mails.
The loophole has drawn controversy for decades. The original gun-control Brady Bill called for a waiting period for gun purchases and a background check but applied only to sales by licensed dealers.
Federal law has changed some since then, but not on the "gun show loophole" — although there have been efforts.
Gun-control advocates struggled for years to get the Brady Bill approved. Named after former White House Press Secretary James Brady, who was wounded in a 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, it was introduced in Congress in 1987 but didn’t pass until 1993.
Of course, in 1993 President Bill Clinton took office. The Brady Bill passed a few months later.
Similarly, intensified gun-show sales restrictions have been the subject of proposed bills since 1999. Another bill is pending today, 10 years later, but it has not passed.
What is new is that Barack Obama became president this year. Excuse the NRA if it sees a parallel to 1993.
The NRA doesn’t trust Obama — witness the rush on gun stores after his election. Gun-rights advocates said he was going to be the most anti-gun president ever, and they aim to stock up on guns and ammo before he has a chance to lock down sales.
Obama has not taken on the NRA. Although he has said it "makes sense" to reinstate a ban on the sale of assault weapons and at times has said he favors closing the gun-show loophole, more recently he has shied away from such definitive statements.
Still, the NRA and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence have reinvigorated their opposing positions and are escalating the fight. Both groups are skilled at campaigns to motivate like-minded people and inflame passions for their cause.
Ward says he’s been called some ugly names. One caller told him that that he should not say publicly that he served in the military because it would embarrass other veterans.
But he says most people have been supportive. He’s been treated like a rock star at his church and in meetings with other local officials. He’s heard a lot of "hang in there" comments. Still, he says, "It’s been nerve-wracking."
He should hang in there. Just as gun owners have rights under the Second Amendment, he has rights under the First.
If the people of Hurst get really mad at Ward, they can vote him out of office in May. My guess is that streets and parks and city services will be bigger issues than guns in that election.
Mike Norman is editorial director of the Star-Telegram /Arlington and Northeast Tarrant County. 817-390-7830
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