Here is Arkansas' laws on guns

[dsc]

I will continue to try to find a direct rating of Bill Clinton as governor of Arkansas by the NRA but in looking for that I came across this interesting link. It lists the gun regulations, or more accurately the utter lack there of, in Arkansas. One wonders why Kerry and his supporters endorsed Clinton given a record like this.

www.bradycampaign.org/legislation/state/viewstate.asp?state=ar

Note the source is the Brady Campaign.

[DemPopulist]

1. In a state like Arkansas,

It's not so much what you do to stop guns but what you do to stop the NRA. Like in my state of Texas, it's very pro-gun obviously, but Ann Richards pocket-vetoed the concealed weapons law while Governor Dubya signed it. Clinton's record is summed up better here: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/clinton990428.html

From the link:

S U M M A R Y

Bill Clinton has been battling the gun lobby since he governed Arkansas.

For Bill Clinton, gun control is a longstanding moral issue — and one he takes personally. From his days as governor of Arkansas, he and the National Rifle Association have sniped at each other, trading threats and vetoes.
As the story goes, an NRA lobbyist once confronted Mr. Clinton in the hallway of the Arkansas Capitol, delivering a “not very veiled threat” that unless the governor signed NRA-backed legislation, the group would make it difficult for him when he ran for president. Angered, Clinton responded: “You don’t get it. It’s a bad bill,” and then vetoed it, according to former White House aide Paul Begala.

Arkansas may have lax gun laws that Clinton didn't do much about but he was no NRA lackey.

[ButterflyBlood]

2. Neither is Dean

not that you made the claim, but it's what the Dean haters do claim, that he's the NRA's best friend. In fact what Clinton did in Arkansas is pretty close to what Dean did in Vermont.

[DemPopulist]

3. I think it's a matter of emphasis

Clinton didn't go around in '92 saying "I have an A rating from the NRA" (I'm not sure that he did anyway). In fact, as I recall, he talked about his fights with the NRA (and the teachers' unions) in interviews when people would say he had never stood up to special interest groups. I guess as a Southerner, Clinton felt that would prove his integrity and liberal bona fides whereas Dean is a Northerner trying to prove his pragmatism and moderation.

[dsc]

4. That was my point

Dean supports everything Clinton got passed plus the gun show loophole being closed. He also supports permitting lawsuits against gun manufacturers if states wish to do so. (ie one wouldn't have a federal right to do so but the feds wouldn't prempt state laws). That alone won't give him an A rating.