Brady Campaign Dismisses Influence of College Gun Clubs

Since 06-26-06

By Alison Espach
CNSNews.com Correspondent

June 22, 2006

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200606/CUL20060622a.html

(CNSNews.com) - The growing trend of gun clubs on college campuses represents "absolutely no problem" to one of America's top gun control groups. According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence, students who form such clubs will forever be a "passionate minority."

The Leadership Institute's Campus Leadership Program (CLP) affiliates itself with conservative organizations such as Gun Owners of America (GOA) and recruits paid field representatives to identify and train conservative students to form clubs. Since 1997, CLP has helped start 738 conservative student groups that are currently in existence. Forty-one of those student groups identify themselves as gun clubs.

Larry Pratt, executive director of GOA, said he would like to see a "reversal of the zero tolerance teaching that guns are bad." He also said that campuses should allow their students to carry firearms if licensed and of age, and he applauded the March 2006 Clemson University raffle that gave away an AK- 47 rifle. It was a "very good" step, said Pratt.

The students at Clemson "looked for something as politically incorrect as they could find," Pratt said. "And by the way, Clemson has not turned out to be a scene of carnage; that is still reserved for gun control meccas, like Washington, D.C."

But Peter Hamm, communications director for the Brady Campaign, said he has no fear that college gun clubs will reverse what he believes is the prevailing mood in America. "The gun rights side has to understand that they will never get to the point where most people agree with them," he said.

Hamm said the emergence of the gun clubs on college campuses makes it "much more likely that young people who think we need stronger gun laws in this country are likely to make sure their voices are heard, too."

He pointed to a Gallup poll that revealed 70 percent of Americans supported the idea that, "laws covering the sale of firearms should be made more strict." However, the poll to which Hamm referred was conducted in March 1993. The Gallup organization asked the same question in October 2004 and it revealed only 54 percent support for stricter gun control laws.

"I think that [the Brady Campaign's] prediction is demonstrably wrong," said Morton C. Blackwell, president of the Leadership Institute. "I'll continue to believe that until they explain to me why in recent years Democratic candidates have deliberately backed away from supporting the Brady position on gun control."

He said Democratic consultants and national training programs are now "notoriously advising their candidates not to open their mouths on the gun issue because it has resulted in the defeat of a whole lot of left wing candidates."

Blackwell said he thinks that the desire to own firearms is expanding, not contracting. He added that as a result of the Campus Leadership Program's success, 60 field representatives will be used this fall as opposed to the 27 used a year ago.