* Crossposted from: FREEDOM'S_VOICE
 Sorry about this appearing as all "quoted" text, but that's the way I
 got it:
[Internet stuff deleted]
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>Copyright © 1996 Nando.net
>Copyright © 1996 The Associated Press
>
>   RICHMOND, Va. (Jul 9, 1996 6:05 p.m. EDT) -- Republican presidential
>candidate Bob Dole retreated Tuesday from his earlier pledge to seek repeal 
of
>a 1994 ban on assault weapons, saying the law had lost its teeth anyway.
>"Let's be realistic," he said.
>
>   Instead, Dole renewed his call for nationwide instant computer checks on
>the background of all gun purchasers.
>
>   "As we've seen right here in Virginia, what works is an instant check on
>handguns, shotguns, rifles -- all guns, period," Dole said.
>
>   He spoke at the Virginia State Police Academy, where he watched as an
>officer processed gun-sales requests at a computer terminal, a process that
>took about a minute for an approval.
>
>   It was the latest installment as Dole and President Clinton continue 
heir
>election-year emphasis on crime-fighting.
>
>   Dole's turnabout on the assault weapons ban came a day after Clinton
>announced a program to trace guns confiscated from teen-agers back to their
>original sellers.
>
>   Dole portrayed Clinton's announcement as a warmed-over version of 
something
>the Clinton administration had initially proposed in 1993.
>
>   "There's nothing wrong with that idea," he said. "But I believe the issue
>isn't just tracking down guns in the hands of violent youth. The real issue 
is
>keeping guns out of their hands in the first place."
>
>   Dole in March 1995 vowed to make repealing the assault-weapons law a top
>legislative priority, telling the National Rifle Association in a letter 
hat
>he viewed the legislation as "ill-conceived."
>
>   However, Dole as Senate majority leader never scheduled a vote on the
>repeal measure. And he has seldom mentioned the issue during his 
residential
>campaign.
>
>   Now, seeking to widen his political support for the general election 
battle
>against Clinton, Dole formally turned his back on the repeal effort.
>
>   "Let's be realistic," Dole said. "Of the 17 weapons that were 
pecifically
>outlawed, 11 are already back on the market in some other form. We've moved
>beyond the debate over banning assault weapons."
>
>   "Instead of endlessly debating which guns to ban, we ought to be
>emphasizing what works," Dole said. "We're doing it here (in Virginia) ... 
e
>ought to be doing it for all Americans."
>
>   President Clinton said he was baffled by Dole's remarks, saying, "I'm not
>entirely sure what he meant."
>
>   "My position is clear," Clinton said at an afternoon news conference. "I
>fought for and passed the Brady bill, the assault weapons ban, the 100,000
>police. If he now believes that we were right on that, then I applaud that."
>
>   Organizations on both sides of the gun control debate welcomed Dole's
>speech -- but for different reasons.
>
>   "We're very happy that Citizen Bob Dole now supports the assault weapons
>ban. But where was Senator Bob Dole when we really needed him?" asked Bob
>Walker, legislative director for Handgun Control Inc.
>
>   The National Rifle Association emphasized Dole's proposal for instant
>background checks. The NRA has supported background checks for purchasing
>firearms since 1988, said Tanya Metaksa, chief lobbyist for the group.
>
>   Dole praised the Virginia program, in which a statewide computer network
>permits an instant check on a gun-buyer's background at the point of 
purchase.
>
>   "And we're not talking about a waiting period of five days or even five
>hours," Dole said. 'We're talking about two minutes."
>
>   He said that should be the goal nationwide.
>
>   Dole spoke as he began a three-day campaign swing in Eastern states.
>
>   He was traveling later Monday to Philadelphia to attend baseball's All 
Star
>Game.
>
>
>
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