NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre's assertes "I've come to believe that he needs a certain level of violence in this country. He's willing to accept a certain level of killing to further his political agenda and his vice president, too."

Clinton responded on ABC's This Week: "I just think that the knee-jerk reaction to any gun safety measure is wrong," Clinton said of the NRA. "If you do one little thing that requires any accommodation ... they think it's the end of the world.

"You know, they basically win through intimidation," Clinton continues. "People are scared of them." But while the organization may have over 3 million members, "there's more people than that in America," he said.

LaPierre wasted no time going after the "level of dishonesty this man is capable of."

LaPierre, also on This Week, attributed Clinton's renewed focus on guns to his interest in getting Gore elected. "The pollsters and consultants are telling them, scare suburban women," he said.

He contended that the administration has been singularly lax in enforcing gun laws already on the books. "You can't care about stopping crimes with guns and give the country a complete lack of enforcement," the NRA official said.