WASHINGTON — All of the leading contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination say they oppose new federal initiatives to license gun owners or to require the registration of handguns -- the principal gun-control measures Al Gore and Bill Bradley offered when they were running for the nomination in 2000.
Seeking a more moderate position on one of the most polarizing issues in American politics, the current Democratic contenders have pledged to enforce existing gun laws and to support the extension of the ban on assault weapons set to expire in September, according to a survey of candidates to be released today by Americans for Gun Safety, a centrist Democratic group based in Washington.
But apart from pledging to tighten background checks on individuals purchasing weapons at gun shows, the leading 2004 contenders have proposed few new limitations on gun owners.
"In 2000, Gore and Bradley vied to see who could go furthest left on guns," John Cowan, the group's president, said in a statement. "This year's Democratic candidates are fighting over the 50-yard line."
In practice, that instinct has blurred the difference between the rest of the field and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who has argued that Washington should leave most decisions on gun regulation to the states.
In the survey, Dean joins all the other Democrats who responded in supporting an extension of the assault weapon ban approved under President Clinton. And Dean, as he does on the campaign trail, also says he will support legislation to close the loophole that exempts purchases from unlicensed dealers at gun shows from the background checks required in gun stores under the 1993 Brady Bill.
But in the questionnaire, Dean adds: "I support the right of states to enact additional gun laws but do not favor additional federal gun laws beyond those discussed above."
Without phrasing it so emphatically, the other Democrats take similar positions. (All the Democrats responded to the survey except the Rev. Al Sharpton. President Bush also did not respond.)
Reps. Dick Gephardt of Missouri and Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, and Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois all said they would seek to expand the ban to cover "copycat" weapons, which are exempted.
"I do not believe that manufacturers should be able to avoid the assault weapons ban by making cosmetic changes to banned weapons," Lieberman wrote.
