The coming national election is the most important since the Civil War, says National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston.
The actor, who has played roles ranging from Ben-Hur to Moses to Brigham Young, spoke Friday night at a fund-raiser for Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah. Hansen estimated that 1,000 Utahns attended the dinner at the Salt Lake Marriott Hotel, which cost donors $125 each.
Most of the state's top Republicans were present, with the exception of Rep. Chris Cannon. Gov. Mike Leavitt and his wife, Jacalyn, were there for a while, but by the time Utah Jazz star Karl Malone spoke, they had disappeared.
"Gov. Mike Leavitt," Malone began. Then he exclaimed, "He's gone! All right, to h--- with what I was going to say good about him," he joked.
During a press conference and later in his speech, Heston emphasized his hope that the next Congress would be filled with good men and women who would support the Constitution.
At one point, he mistakenly called Hansen "senator." He noted that the Utahn has been in Congress for 20 years and that he has a significant commitment to the Bill of Rights.
"You all know that the Bill of Rights is designed with one purpose in every one of its articles," Heston said. "Its purpose is to defend the individual American citizen from the intrusion of the federal government."
Heston and Hansen discussed Utah's gun control initiative, which failed this week to acquire enough petition signatures to go on the ballot in November. The measure would have banned guns in schools, houses of worship and colleges.
Asked to comment on the measure, Heston said, "I think the position of the American people on the Second Amendment (involving arms) has been adequately established."
He added, "I don't think many people bring firearms into churches. And schools, that's another complication."
When asked if the NRA doesn't oppose guns in schools, Heston replied, "I don't believe so. I don't think that is correct."
It was then pointed out to him that the NRA'S own Internet site nrahq.com/transcripts/ad2.shtml takes the position that guns should be kept out of schools just as they should be out of airports.
"Well certainly, schools should be protected from intrusion, as a courthouse is, obviously," Heston replied. "Frankly, I'm not up to speed on that particular issue."
Hansen said the initiative is a state issue and that he would like to read it. The Clinton administration has put firearms at the top of its agenda, he added, "when there are a lot of issues going around that I think are a lot more important at this particular time."
Asked what he would say to a measure that would ban guns from schools, colleges and churches, Hansen replied that when he was speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, guns already were banned in such places.
"If they're banned now, the only thing you're looking at is the concealed weapon holder," he said.
"I don't know of an instance where a concealed weapon holder has really found himself in a position of doing anything wrong, because most of these are pretty good guys that have to pass a test themselves."
He cited an incident in which a gunman shot up the Capitol. Hansen said he would have liked to have a .357 pistol in his desk then, "because I don't know if I'd want to throw a paper clip at the guy. I had 18 people in there, and I honestly think they deserve some protection in a case like that."
Washington, D.C., has some of the strictest anti-gun laws in the country, he added, "and where's the greatest crime rate in America? Strangely enough, it's right in Washington, D.C."
Heston said what America needs is better enforcement of the gun laws that are on the books.
"What I would like to see is this administration prosecuting the felons who have been arrested" for possession of firearms, he said. It's a serious crime for a felon to have a gun, he noted.
"This administration has prosecuted almost none of them, almost none, and I think that is one of the most shocking rents in the fabric of this country at this point. It's one of the reasons this next election will be the most important election since the Civil War, at least."
Malone took potshots at environmentalists, during his speech.
"I don't think we have any tree-huggers in the room with us," he told the diners. "But if we do, you can eat your salad here and drink some water and go home."
After applause and laughter from the crowd, he said that he was filling his Suburban at a gas station Friday when a car with environmental bumper stickers pulled up. "You know all that, don't eat meat . . . on and on."
He waved to them. However, they just flipped him off, he said. Malone seemed to believe that was because of his well-known association with the NRA.
"So that's why I had to say what I had to say," he added.
Malone fired a defiant salvo: "You can pass all the laws you want to pass — you're not going to get my guns."
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