SAN JOSE, Calif. — Vice President Al Gore said Friday that if he were elected president he would support a ban on weapons in churches and other places of worship.
"Houses of worship have always been sanctuaries, and they should remain that way," Gore said. "I say that pistols have no place in our pews. If I'm entrusted with the presidency, I will fight for a national ban on guns in churches, synagogues, mosques and all places of worship as well as places where school events are held."
Such a ban has little support in Congress. But Gore's objective was to publicize the fact that Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, his probable Republican rival for the presidency, had signed a law allowing gun owners to carry concealed weapons into churches. About 20 other states, including Gore's home state of Tennessee, also allow guns in churches.
The Bush campaign immediately pointed out that Gore never objected when Tennessee passed its law in 1994.
"If Al Gore was really opposed to concealed carry and guns in churches, why didn't he speak out when a concealed-carry law was passed in his home state of Tennessee, where residents can also carry guns in churches?" Ari Fleischer, Bush's spokesman, said in a statement.
The Gore campaign hopes that calling attention to the fact that Bush signed such a law will help scare suburban swing voters away from Bush. In an indication of his attempt to appeal to independents and Republicans, Gore praised Republicans like Gov. George Pataki of New York who have supported gun control measures. And, mindful of the large numbers of hunters and sportsmen in swing states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, he said repeatedly that he would not interfere with their rights. But he made his announcement in California, which has been in the vanguard of clamping down on guns.
Democratic senators plan to introduce a nonbinding resolution banning guns in churches before the Million Mom March, to be staged May 14 in Washington to protest gun violence.