WASHINGTON – Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has quietly stepped up her fight for tighter gun control by signing on to a new push to make public a national database of weapons used in crimes and illegal sales.
Her résumé on gun control, a pet issue among the Democratic Party’s liberal base, includes calls for a ban on assault weapons and so-called “cop killer” armor-piercing ammo – yet she hasn’t personally taken a lead role in any gun legislation in this Congress.
Her silent shuffle to the left on the lightning-rod issue is sure to rankle the powerful National Rifle Association and gun-loving heartland voters who will decide the 2008 White House race.
But Clinton was so eager to have her name attached to the bill that she called Sen. Bob Menendez out of the blue to co-sponsor it, the rookie New Jersey Democrat told The Post.
She signed on to the bill last week, immediately after Menendez formally filed it, but never touted her support in a press release. So far, Clinton and fellow New York Dem Chuck Schumer are the sole Senate co-sponsors.
The NRA, gun manufacturers and their congressional allies say critics only want the data so they can sue gunmakers.
The NRA’s massive political machine is poised to pound on Clinton in gun-obsessed battleground states during a likely 2008 White House race – an onslaught she may have a tough time countering.