LITTLE ROCK — Gun control should be viewed not as an ideological or cultural issue but as a social problem that needs a national solution, an advocate for stronger firearm regulations told a Little Rock audience Friday.
“The bumper stickers are designed to shut down reasonable thought,” said Dennis Henigan, acting president of the Brady Campaign and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Henigan said the country is ina “weird public-policy position” in that studies show Americans favor mandatory background checks for buying guns and some restrictions but that they can’t agree on the actual laws.
“The NRA is very, very good at the tactics of fear,” said Henigan, who spoke at the Clinton School of Public Service seven months after National Rifle Association executive Wayne LaPierre.
The NRA has recast the debate from background checks to “a slippery slope,” the result being that people are afraid regulations would take away their guns, Henigan said.
“They’re just very skilled at using that and inducing fear in their members,” he said.
When LaPierre spoke in Little Rock in April, he said laws regulating gun possession endangered the public and protected violators by giving them a safe place to open fire without fear of retaliation.
“The world is far more complicated than good guys and bad guys, and we know who they are, and they will never change,” Henigan said in response, noting how U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in January in a state that allows any registered gun owner to carry a concealed weapon without further licensing.
Although Arkansas legislators rejected a bill earlier this year that would have allowed concealed handguns on college campuses and in churches, Henigan said, “Arkansas has bought into this vision of guns everywhere, and it’s not working out.”
Friday’s newspaper reported at least two shootings in the past couple of days, Henigan told a crowd about a fourth of the size that LaPierre attracted earlier this year.
Nationwide, more than 30,000 people die each year in the United States from firearm injuries, including suicides and homicides, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from 2007, the most recent available.
“This is uniquely an American tragedy,” said Henigan, who believes in gun laws that make it harder for dangerous people to obtain guns.
But Henigan also finds himself on the opposing side on some changes. He said Arkansans should urge their congressional delegation to stand up for states’ rights and gun control by opposing what he calls the “Packing Heat on Your Street” bill.
House Resolution 822, formally known as the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act, would allow gun owners with concealed-firearm permits to carry a concealed handgun in any other state.
Arkansas has its own reciprocal agreements with most states to allow Arkansans to carry concealed weapons and to allow residents of other states to do the same in the Natural State. Arkansas law requires that the reciprocal state have concealed-handgun regulations at least as restrictive as the Arkansas regulations, so several states don’t qualify.
Henigan said it should be up to Arkansas whether to permit holders from states with lesser regulation to carry concealed weapons here. Some states don’t require permits to carry a concealed weapon. Arizona residents are eligible to do so as long as they meet basic gun ownership requirements.
While promoting states’ rights on that issue, Henigan said that a national solution was needed to end a feature of gun sales that allows the avoidance of background checks. Licensed gun dealers must perform background checks, he said, but private sellers don’t.
Nor is there a national database on who is permitted to carry concealed handguns. A police officer has a better idea whether someone’s out-of-state driver’s license is valid than whether a concealed license is valid, Henigan said.
The Brady Campaign president lectured Friday on the campus of former President Bill Clinton’s presidential library. During his presidency, Clinton helped push through the Brady Bill, which required background checks and a waiting period to purchase a handgun. He also signed a ban on assault weapons in 1994.
“He did not run away from the gun issue,” Henigan said of Clinton, saying he wished there were more politicians like Clinton in power today.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 11/05/2011