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By Matt Bai
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It's not exactly détente, but it's progress nonetheless. This week, for the first time, National Rifle Association chief Charlton Heston and Jim Brady, founder of Handgun Control, will share a stage in Denver to support Project Exile, the NRA program that cuts crime by prosecuting every gun law on the books. Denver's been testing the program for months--gun prosecutions have nearly doubled--and now the community is raising $500,000 for ads that warn: "Pack an illegal gun, pack your bags for prison." For this, even Heston, the gun lobby's macho warrior, and Brady, the man disabled by John Hinckley's bullet, could make peace. But would they shake hands? "I'm assuming that if Mr. Heston holds out his hand, Jim will offer his good hand," said Handgun Control's Naomi Paiss. "He's not the kind of man to turn his back, or his wheelchair, to that kind of situation."
Let the politicians duel over new laws that would require everything from trigger locks to licenses--laws that have almost no chance of clearing Congress this year. The fact is that change is already coming to the gun world. With Bill Clinton promising more prosecutors, Project Exile is likely to expand to other cities before the year is out. Meanwhile gunmakers are joining forces with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to keep high-tech records of most guns manufactured in the United States. In California, the industry is being forced to shelve the junk guns used in most urban crimes. And several companies, like Smith & Wesson, are stepping up efforts to make a high-tech weapon that can be fired only by its owner. Not that any of this will guarantee that guns won't fall into the hands of criminals, or kids. But it's a long way from the days before lawsuits and Columbine, when the industry seemed immovable, and Heston and Brady wouldn't have been caught in the same room.
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The next several weeks are portentous ones for the besieged gun barons. Working with the Feds, Glock is set to begin testing IBIS--the Integrated Ballistics Identification System, which will ultimately keep a "fingerprint" of the shell casings ejected from every semiautomatic pistol made in America. That's well short of the gun registration Clinton wants, but it could eventually enable cops to instantly link most crime guns to the people who bought them. Gun execs will also be sitting down with California officials to figure out a way to test guns under the state's tough new safety standard. Whatever they devise will likely become a national model for phasing out so-called Saturday-night specials. "All the companies I represent can live with it," says Robert Ricker, a lobbyist. "It's going to be expensive for them to get these guns tested. But at least we'll know the gun has met some kind of minimum quality standard." The industry is also set to unveil a new public-relations offensive with ATF, plastering gun shops with posters that read: don't buy for the other guy.
The gunmakers hope that all of this will improve their dark image--and bolster their defense in court. They're also hoping to restart negotiations with the 28 cities that have sued them. The gun companies walked away from the table last month rather than cut a deal with the White House. "We're all wary of giving Clinton the gun issue in an election year," says a top exec. With good reason. The NRA has traditionally held sway at the ballot box, but the antigunners are convinced that swing voters are now with them. They point to last year's referendum in Missouri, where voters rejected a concealed carry law; the NRA called it "the last great gun battle of the 20th century," and lost after outspending opponents five to one. Emboldened, Handgun Control's new PAC will pour $2 million into local campaigns, going head to head with the NRA--and the industry's own PAC--in November. It's a good bet that Heston and Brady won't be shaking hands then.
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