http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/2004/la-na-gunpolitics13apr13,1,2467557.story?coll=la-home-headlinesGun Groups May Not Be Bush Campaign Weapon
The NRA and others were a key asset in 2000. But many activists are disenchanted with the president's record on security measures.
By Eric Slater, Times Staff Writer
The National Rifle Assn. sold a videotape on its website during the early days of the 2000 presidential campaign showing a top official predicting that if George W. Bush won, "we'll have a president … where we work out of their office."
The statement, by now-NRA President Kayne Robinson, was little more than hyperbolic rallying of the troops. He went on to call Democratic nominee Al Gore an "antigun fanatic" whose election would be a "horror story."
But the statement illuminated the hope of many gun-rights activists that, after eight years of tussling with President Clinton, they could — if they worked hard — help put a friend in the White House. They did work hard, and Bush won.
Four years later, some gun owners have grown so disenchanted with President Bush that they may cast a protest vote for a third-party candidate, stay away from the polls, or even back the likely Democratic nominee, gun-control advocate John F. Kerry.
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