-Caveat Lector-
Clinton Blames Guns for Violence
By LAWRENCE L. KNUTSON
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Saying that the repeated mass murders of innocent Americans
has been the most painful thing he has had to face in office, President
Clinton on Saturday said the easy availability of guns bears as much or more
responsibility as does human evil.
Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, addressing the annual dinner of the
Congressional Black Caucus, said that some have attempted to minimize the
role of firearms in tragedies such as the murders Wednesday night of seven
people in a church in Fort Worth, Texas and the suicide of the alleged
gunman.
``Of course something horrible happened to that man's heart when he walked
into that church in Texas. But we cannot use that as an excuse,'' Clinton
said.
He asserted that the solution is a sharing of responsibility and a refusal to
duck facts, not a search for scapegoats or an attempt to blame all gun
murders simply on human evil.
``The NRA (National Rifle Association) and that crowd has got to stop using
arguments like this to avoid facing our shared responsibility,'' the
president said.
He said tragedies such as this year's spate of school shootings and the
bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City has made the search for
answers imperative.
``I think the killing of innocent people en masse in America has been the
most painful thing that (the vice president ) and I and our families have had
to endure in discharging our duties for America,'' Clinton said.
He called on the country '' to make this election year about assuming
responsibility, not ducking it.''
In their back-to-back speeches, Gore raised the issue first.
``Too many hearts have been broken,'' he said, adding that some have tried to
explain the killings ``by saying a sudden wave of evil has swept the county
.''
``My religious tradition says evil has always been with us and we need to
meet evil with good,'' the vice president said.
He said it is clear there is a pressing national need to get guns out of the
hands of people who should not have them.
``We have to act and not just talk,'' Gore said. ``We want to move our feet
and lift our hands and work together.''
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