NRA takes credit for Bush's win; Democrat Sen. Miller agrees

RENO, NEVADA - Taking credit for President Bush&#39;s election, National Rifle Association leaders said Saturday they&#39;re taking aim next at unseating gun control advocates in Congress and defeating campaign finance reform in court. <br> <br> ``You are why Al Gore isn&#39;t in the White House,&#39;&#39; NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre told more than 4,500 delegates at the NRA&#39;s 131st annual meeting. <br> <br> ``No other group could have done what we did collectively in 2000, and now it&#39;s time to finish the job,&#39;&#39; NRA lobbyist James Jay Baker said. ``The Senate is the hole in our armor. ... The Senate is our battleground.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Georgia Sen. Zell Miller, the first Democrat to give the NRA&#39;s keynote address in more than a decade, said his party lost the White House partly because they listened to bad advice from pollsters who claimed voters favor gun control. <br> <br> ``Clearly, your active vigilance was brought to bear in the last election,&#39;&#39; Miller said in remarks prepared for Saturday night&#39;s banquet at the Reno Hilton hotel-casino. He said Gore&#39;s stands on gun rights cost him key southern states, including Arkansas, West Virginia and Tennessee. <br> <br> ``I recall the surprise of national Democratic leaders at losing those states in the presidential election. All their expert pollsters said voters favored gun control. ... Well, I stand with heartfelt conviction over a political wind gauge any day,&#39;&#39; the longtime NRA member said. <br> <br> NRA President Charlton Heston narrated an 8-minute videotape on Ronald Reagan who in 1983 was the only sitting U.S. president to address an NRA convention before he told the cheering crowd he would grant their wish to stay on for an unprecedented fifth term as their leader. <br> <br> ``After all we did in the 2000 elections, I think we deserve a personal visit from President Bush next year, don&#39;t you?&#39;&#39; Heston said. The 78-year-old actor then held an 1874 rifle above his head and thrilled the crowd with the popular reprise among 2nd Amendment defenders, ``From my cold dead hands.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The cheers turned to boos at the mention of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., lead sponsor of the campaign finance reforms that the NRA is challenging, along with other longtime gun control advocates, including Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. <br> <br> ``We are the most powerful lobby in America,&#39;&#39; NRA second vice president Sandy Froman of Phoenix said in urging the group to remain united against even the smallest infringements on gun rights. <br> <br> ``Our enemies don&#39;t hate guns as much as they hate us for being free to own them. If Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein get their way, they&#39;ll get to your trap (shooting) gun eventually. It&#39;s just a bit further down on their list.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Telephone messages left at McCain&#39;s offices in Washington and Arizona were not immediately returned. <br> <br> Leaders urged delegates to help recruit new members, announcing a goal of boosting the current 4.2 million membership to more than 5 million. <br> <br> ``The fondest hope of our enemies is to create a climate where gun owners are a dying breed. We are not about to let that happen,&#39;&#39; said Craig Sandler of New Hampshire, NRA director of general operations. <br> <br> LaPierre said the group ``must grow larger and tougher&#39;&#39; to fend off attempts to implement waiting periods on gun purchases at gun shows, protect gun manufacturers from lawsuits and defend First Amendment freedom of speech in the form of campaign advertising. <br> <br> ``We must declare there are no shades of gray in American freedom. It&#39;s black or white, all or nothing. You&#39;re with us or against us,&#39;&#39; he said.

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