Nation: Aimless

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Of all the opponents of any federal legislation to control firearms, none has been more persistent—or more effective—than the National Rifle Association, a 750,000-member organization that spends perhaps $2,000,000 a year pushing its official line in pamphlets, pressure on Congress, gun-magazine advertisements and its own publication The American Rifleman. In the face of renewed clamoring for congressional gun control action, spurred by Charles Whitman's recent sniper rampage in Austin, Texas, the N.R.A. last week turned for a change to newspapers, buying full-page spreads in the Washington Post and the New York Times, both of which have editorialized vigorously for stronger gun laws. Over the legend, "America needs more straight shooters," the ads picture, of all people, a rifle-toting Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Part of the N.R.A.'s membership drive to mark its 100th anniversary ("We're shooting for a million members") in 1971, the ads accurately describe F.D.R. as an N.R.A. member who shared the organization's concern for conservation and the proper use of firearms. What they neglect to mention, however, is that Roosevelt (one of seven U.S. presidents who have been shot at by would-be assassins), was a longtime advocate of strong gun laws. As Governor in 1932, F.D.R. vetoed two bills that attempted to emasculate New York's tough Sullivan Law, which remains the only state law requiring police permits for possession of handguns. During his presidency, the two major existing federal gun laws—the firearms acts of 1934 and 1938—were passed. In fact, a 1962 article in The American Riflleman took note of the late President's desire for tough gun controls, complained that his "knowledge of firearms was not extensive."

In any case, the obvious intensification of the N.R.A.'s anti-legislation campaign may be unnecessary. In Congress, where the association maintains influential contacts and can mount a massive barrage of letters at the drop of a new gun bill, a measure sponsored by Connecticut's Senator Thomas Dodd to curb interstate firearms traffic re mained bottled up last week in the Senate Judiciary Committee, with prospects for its passage in this session dimming rapidly.