    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [March 2, 2000]
    [Pages 362-364]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 362]]

    Interview With Dan Rather of the CBS Evening News
    March 2, 2000

    Gun Safety Legislation

        Mr. Rather. Mr. President, thank you for doing this. You're
    proposing registering guns like cars. But if you're going to do that,
    then why not take the next step and regulate guns, as we do cars? After
    all, if there's something seriously wrong about cars, the Government can
    regulate automobiles. Are you willing to do that?
        The President. Well, first of all, I don't think we should minimize
    the impact that licensing handgun owners themselves would have. That's
    what I want to do. And I think it's a very important step. Now, it's
    tough to pass in this Congress because most of the Republicans agree
    with the NRA that guns are different, and even though it might save
    lives, we shouldn't do it. But I think it's very important.
        There's a practical problem with the guns, of course. There are over
    200 million of them already out there. But I think if we would begin the
    process of making handgun owners get a license before they can buy a
    gun, pass a Brady background check, and then have a gun safety course, I
    think it would make a difference.
        I think if we did that, plus had child safety locks, closed the big
    loophole in the background registration law by covering the gun shows
    and the urban flea markets, and then continue this technology into safe
    guns so that as soon as possible we can sell guns and adjust them so
    that, by fingerprints, they can only be fired by the adults who own
    them, all these things together would make our country a much safer
    place. And I'm going to continue to fight for it.
        We need to start by passing this legislation that the Congress has
    had for 8 months now. The Senate passed a pretty strong law, with the
    Vice President casting the tie-breaking
    vote. The House passed a much weaker law. And they've just been sitting
    on this for 8 months. I hope that these last 2 tragic days will finally
    move the Congress to act. And I'm going to meet with the leading
    conferees on the two bills in the next few days to try to do that.
        Mr. Rather. But you're not prepared to take the step to try to
    regulate guns?
        The President. I think that the most important thing we can do now
    is to pass the legislation before the Congress, and then try to pass
    legislation that would require the owners themselves, people who want to
    buy handguns, to be licenses, just as car drivers are. I think that's
    the next big step, and I think it will make a big difference.
        Just with the Brady bill and the assault weapons ban and the more
    police on the street, we've got the murder rate down to a 30-year low.
    But it's still way too high. And the accidental death rate from children
    is astronomical. It's 9 times higher than the next 24 industrial nations
    combined. So we've got to do more with this. And I want to focus on this
    agenda. I think it will drive the death rate down from guns both for
    murders and from accidental death rates.
        Mr. Rather. Mr. President, how, if in any way, would your new
    proposals have prevented or even helped to prevent the shooting of this
    6-year-old girl in Michigan?
        The President. Well, I think--there are two things I'd like to
    mention. One is something that is still in the bill. If this gun had a
    child trigger lock on it, then the child, in all probability, could not
    have figured out how to undo the child trigger lock and fire the gun. So
    that's very, very important.
        Then I had a provision which neither the Senate nor the House
    passed, to make national a law that today I think fewer than 20 States
    have, which would hold adults responsible for the kinds of activities
    that this young boy tragically engaged in when he killed that little
    girl. I think that it ought to be national,
    not just in a few States.
        And so I hope the Congress, and maybe the conference, will
    reconsider that, even though even the Senate wouldn't pass that. They
    ought to take a look at this now, because clearly the adults bear the
    primary responsibility here. And people would think twice before just
    leaving a gun hanging around the house that a kid could walk off with if
    that were the case.
        Mr. Rather. Mr. President, there are so many questions about this
    issue that run so deep in the American character, as well as our
    history. With, as you've mentioned, at least 200 million guns out there,
    what about the argument that

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    says, listen, there's really no chance that we're going to have
    meaningful gun control in this country unless you go out and get those
    guns back, and that's simply not practical?
        The President. Well, I think, first of all, you never want to make
    the perfect the enemy of the good. Look how much good the Brady bill has
    done. It's kept a half million felons, fugitives, and stalkers from
    getting handguns. And that's one of the reasons that the murder rate is
    at a 30-year low. So it won't solve all the problems, but it will solve
    some.
        Secondly, especially if we could license people when they come in to
    buy handguns, we could then couple that with a very aggressive gun
    buyback program. Keep in mind, yes, there are more than 200 million guns
    out there, but a lot of them are in the hands of collectors and not
    regularly in use. What we need to do is to get these cheap guns off the
    streets, and with an aggressive gun buyback program we could do that.
    Just with the few million dollars we spend on it every year, we get a
    huge number of guns, offering about $50 a gun. So I would also like to
    see that program expanded.
        If you could get a lot of the older guns that are just out there
    floating loose off the street, if you could license the handgun owners,
    if you could have child safety locks, and then if we could proceed with
    this safe-gun technology so that in the future all the guns that were
    sold could only be fired by the adults who are their rightful owner, I
    think you'd go a long, long way toward making this a much, much safer
    country.
        And it wouldn't in any way infringe on the rights of hunters and
    sport shooters, except to ask them to do what the rest of us do when we
    go through airport metal detectors or get driver's licenses. We undergo
    a little bit of inconvenience so that society as a whole would be a lot
    safer. And I think we have neglected this far too long.
        As I said, there's not enough urgency in the Congress. You've got a
    dozen kids a day still getting shot to death out there, and this bill
    has been up there for 8 months. So this is one place where I think the
    United States Congress is completely out of touch with the American
    people, largely because of the genuine fear people have of the organized
    NRA interest back in their district. And they just no longer reflect the
    views of the majority of the people.
        I had a woman tell me yesterday, when I was touring a high-tech
    facility in northern Virginia, that her husband was a Republican and an
    avid hunter who strongly supported these initiatives. And I think that's
    where the American people are. It's time for Congress to get in step
    with the American people and take these actions that will make our
    children safer.
        Mr. Rather. Is it or is it not your contention, Mr. President, the
    basic problem has been the Republican-led Congress?
        The President. Oh, absolutely. Now, we have some Democrats who live
    in rural districts where there are a lot of hunters and where they're
    afraid of this, because when I passed the assault weapons ban and the
    Brady bill back in '93 and '94, there's no question that the NRA beat
    about a dozen of our Members. There's no question they did. These people
    who voted with us to make our streets safer and save lives gave up their
    seats in Congress.
        But public opinion has shifted a lot since then. And this is
    primarily a problem of the leadership in the Republican Congress being
    unwilling to part from the NRA. And I hope that they will do it now,
    because I think a lot of their Members want to. And almost all these
    Members of Congress could vote for this legislation and not be
    threatened at all, and they need to do that.
        Mr. Rather. When I talk to the Republican leadership in Congress,
    they--and I will say, somewhat gleefully--say, ``Look, there are at
    least 60 Democrats in the House who no way, no how are going to vote for
    any additional gun control legislation.''
        The President. Well, that leaves us with about 140 on our side,
    which means they only have to produce 80 for us to have a majority. So
    they ought to do that. There's 80 Republicans who come from suburban
    districts where their constituents strongly support this and where they
    would not be defeated by the NRA if they went with us.
        Mr. Rather. You've mentioned the NRA several times. Everybody knows
    the National Rifle Association pours a lot of money into a lot of
    campaigns to beat just this kind of legislation that you have proposed.
    But is it or is it not reality that what you have are tens of millions
    of Americans who own guns and, whatever their party affiliation, however
    they feel about you, are just adamant about not controlling guns any
    further, and that's the real problem?

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        The President. Well, it is, but most of them--a lot of gun owners--
    keep in mind, I'm convinced a majority of hunters and sport shooters,
    once they understand that these regulations do not in any way, shape, or
    form, impact their ability to conduct their lawful affairs, will support
    what amounts to a minor inconvenience--doing a background check at a gun
    show, for example, having a child safety lock on a handgun--to save
    lives.
        And I'll say again, I know public opinion has changed. In New
    Hampshire, we lost a Democratic Congressman who voted for the assault
    weapons ban and the Brady bill. He lost his job in '94. And I went up
    there in '96 and met with a bunch of people who were hunters and
    sportsmen, and I said, ``Now, the NRA told you we were going to take
    your guns away and inconvenience you.'' And I said, ``If you missed a
    day in a deer season, I want you to vote against me, too. But if you
    didn't, they didn't tell you the truth, and you need to stick with us.''
    And we won, and won handily there.
        So I think people are changing as they understand this is simply
    commonsense safety measures. And as a society, we all undergo minor
    inconveniences so that our children can grow up safe. And it's
    ridiculous--the United States is the only country in the world that
    would allow this kind of, I believe, recklessness with the public
    interest. Nobody else does it, and that's why we have the highest murder
    rate and the highest accidental gun death rate of children, because we
    don't take these commonsense measures. I think we ought to make this a
    safer country. And we can do it, I'll say again, without interfering
    with people's right to hunting and sport shooting.
        Mr. Rather. Mr. President, I know you have a meeting to go to.
    You've been very generous with your time. A last question. So many
    people, when I talk to them, they say, ``Look, it's fine for the
    President to talk this way, but he's going to see rocks grow and water
    run uphill before he sees any real gun control legislation.'' Now,
    you've made it clear you don't believe that. What can you do to move
    this along? Can you call the Members of Congress to the White House for
    a special meeting to compromise? What can you do?
        Mr. President. Yes. Well, I'm going to bring down the leaders of the
    House and the Senate, the Republicans and Democrats, who are in charge
    of this bill in the conference. The House and the Senate version are in
    a conference. They're supposed to come up with a unified bill and let
    the House and Senate vote on it. And I don't have any doubt if they
    report out a good bill, it will pass. And I'm going to do everything I
    can to pass it.
        I don't believe that. They said--once they said we'd see water run
    uphill before we had Brady background checks, and then before we banned
    assault weapons, and then before we banned these large capacity
    ammunition clips. We did all that, but we left some loopholes in the law
    that we ought to close. We ought to require child safety locks. We ought
    to invest in safe-gun technology. And we ought to license handgun
    owners.
        You know, every significant reform in a controversial area is
    considered to be impossible when you start. But you just start, and you
    keep working, and you keep working, and you keep working, and eventually
    it happens.
        Mr. Rather. Mr. President, thank you. I'd love to come by sometime
    and talk to you about Colombia and China and Taiwan. But I appreciate
    you taking time today to do this.
        Thank you very much.
        Mr. President. Thank you very much, Dan.
        Mr. Rather. Mr. President, I really appreciate you taking time to do
    this. Great. Thanks a lot. Tell the First Lady hello for us.
        Mr. President. I'll do it.

    Note: The interview was videotaped at approximately 4:06 p.m. in the
    Roosevelt Room for later broadcast, and the transcript was embargoed for
    release until 6:30 p.m. In his remarks, the President referred to Kayla
    Rolland, who died after she was shot by 6-year-old classmate Dedrick
    Owens in Mount Morris Township, MI. A tape was not available for
    verification of the content of this interview.