European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 11, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Tom Wicker Era might have of rethink cry Wolf fact is is the National Rifle association slipping if the 1988 election returns Are a guide this most feared special interest in american politics May be shooting it Silfin the foot. It s Well known that the Era poured 16.1 million into Maryland to overturn a slate Law Banning cheap concealable handguns. Voters nevertheless supported the legislation by a wide margin As the Era suffered its first defeat in a statewide referendum on gun control. It s not so Well known that every . Senator targeted by the Era won re elec Tion anyway. Among them was Howard  a Ohio a persistent advocate of gun control who has been As persistently denounced by the gun lobby our biggest foe declared Wayne la Pierre chairman of the Era political Victory fund. Must Mibaum was the Senate sponsor of the Brady amendment to the defeat of which Era lobbying was a principal contributor last summer. Named for James Brady the press Secretary wounded in the attempt on president Reagan s life the amendment called for a seven Day waiting period during which police could deter mine whether anyone trying to buy a hand gun had a felony record. Reagan supported the amendment As did mrs. Sarah Brady. Had such a wailing period been in effect in 1981, it might have prevented the Legal Purchase of a handgun by John a Mckloy who Shol Reagan and Brady. The waiting period legislation was opposed however by George Bush a card carrying member och Cora. Despite the organization s efforts to defeat  he estimates that they spent hundreds of thousands again him in Chic a Wal re Lccy by 602,000 votes. That was against a Strong Republican opponent. Mayor George Voinovich of Cleveland and in a conservative stale thai Bushi the Republican presidential nominee carried by 480,000.  thinks his Triumph Over inc Era will improve chances for the Brady amendment in the next Congress it never came to the floor in the Senate but was Defeated in the House by Only 46 Voles. As handgun control an Organiza Tion working for gun control legislation suggests in a fund raising letter that Means other things remaining equal Andrew Glass Only 24 volts would have to be changed to win House passage of the Brady amendment. The Maryland referendum de Feal also should Lessen legislators fears of the Era s ability to retaliate since it happened on the congressional Doorstep and was heavily covered by Washington press and television the gun lobby put up $6.1 million of the total of 56.o Mil lion spent in opposition to the state s handgun Taw. That was twice the pre Vious Maryland record 3.3 million spent by gov. William Schaefer to win election in 1986. Supporters of the handgun Law spent Only $752,107 to win by so to 42 per cent. With Schaefer and most Maryland Law enforcement officials on their Side they succeeded in convincing voters that the Law did not threaten legitimate sportsmen and gun owners but would be effective in Banning sales of cheap weapons useful Only to criminals. These blows to the Era in the 1988 elections were balanced if it All Only by a Nebraska vote to Amend the state Constitution to guarantee the right to Bear arms. Bush s election also May be a boost for the Era since he has opposed the waiting period and other gun control legislation none of this necessarily Means that the Era will not remain a powerful opponent of legislation and candidates thai appear to threaten the millions of non criminal americans who legitimately own and want to keep guns. In All but a few Stales they form a powerful voting bloc easily aroused against anything they think would deprive them of or restrict their ability to possess weapons they re Gard As theirs by right. The 1988 election returns suggest however that such gun owners May be making sharper distinctions Between real threats to their perceived interests and such reasonable Law enhancing Steps As the seven Day wailing period already i effect in 22 states and Maryland s ban on cheap concealable handguns. If that s so the Era will have to re think its traditional cry Wolf tactics. It will no longer be so easy to persuade voters that restraints aimed Only at criminals Are threats to All gun owners to the machismo of american males even to the Constitution itself. No need to Witto take a position on this have you hu66ed Todd Rowitt tragedy could boost superpower cooperation who could have supposed when Mikhail Gorbachev came before the United nations to plead for deeper forms of International cooperation thai Ronald Reagan would answer his Call within 24 hours by offer ing Loaid the victims of a devastating earthquake in. Armenia  before returning to his Homeland to personally in Spect the destruction the soviet Leader acknowledged Tiit american help indeed May be required. Should the Kremlin decide to accept the u a. Offer one of the greatest natural tragedies of our Century could still spawn a human Triumph in superpower cooperation whatever the eventual outcome it cannot be an easy decision for inc soviets since the 1917 bolshevik revolution tens of millions of russians have died through famine or in Stalin s siberian death Camps. For the main part americans stood by passively As the Slaughter occurred. ,.  the soviets Call world War h the great patriotic War. For Russia those years of fighting claimed More than 20 million lives against some 400,000 Ameri cans killed in that struggle. That Lime however Amer Ica did come to the Rescue with both Money and arms which helped hurl Back the nazi thrust. Washington s decision ushered in a Brief Golden period  utties. "  in mis . Address Gorbachev spoke of profound changes occurring throughout the world in science technology and communications. He noted How these transformations in turn have enlarged the peril to human survival from economic want increased eco logical risks and nuclear weapons. But Gorbachev did not say that the soviet Union remains a backward nation. It is an environmental junkyard which save for nuclear rockets the world wide technological revolution of which he spoke has largely left behind when the armenian earthquake struck a relatively primitive communications system kept Gorbachev in the dark about its magnitude much longer than any Western Leader who found himself caught in similar circumstances. Yet Many americans see Gorbachev As the first so Viet official to whom they can relate As a reasonable and rational in horned human being. Such sentiments raise the possibility of building fresh Bridges Between the two societies a process that in the Long run could prove far More important than any weapons cuts or nuclear arms treaties americans and russians Are proud Peoples. It would be hard to imagine Washington turning quickly to Moscow should a great earthquake strike lot an Geles  Francisco. On the other hand soviet Cor respondents would encounter Little trouble in reporting from the scene of any major american disaster where As it could be quite a while before . Correspondents can enter politically sensitive Armenia nevertheless american Money medical equipment and doctors will flow in spurred by a worldwide armenian Diaspora which has risen to the need. But american air Force c-141 transports Bear ing Relief supplies and Cia agents As Well could be another matter. As a world class politician Gorbachev sensed that he had to move quickly to show alienated armenians that the soviet u Nion stands behind them in their Lime of double woe. Many Christian armenians were deep to put bitty the Kremlin s decision to Side with mostly moslem Azerbaijan in their Long standing territorial dispute a Strong response by Gorbachev can perhaps save the Day and turn Back a rising tide of ethnic strife. I n 1986, after the nuclear Power plan Accident at chernobyl Gorbachev said nothing for iwo weeks and never visited the meltdown site. But he did ask lop american Burn care doctors to come to Moscow in dealing with the much greater disaster of Armenia we must still see How far Gorbachev will go in playing the american option