Vice President Dick Cheney portrayed Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, as a threat to gun owners and a vacillating voice in the war on terror last night as he addressed the national convention of the NRA.

	Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Vice President Dick Cheney holds a custom-made flintlock presented to him after he spoke to the NRA convention last night. With him are Wayne LaPierre, NRA executive vice president, left, and Kayne Robinson, NRA president. Related articles Gun foes picket NRA convention Whitehall woman to be honored by Bush during visit Click photo for larger image.

"John Kerry's approach to the Second Amendment has been to regulate, regulate and regulate some more,'' Cheney said, to the applause of about 4,000 NRA members gathered in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Cheney shook off the jet lag from a week-long trip to Asia for his brief stop Downtown and was rewarded with an extended standing ovation that morphed into chants of, "Four more years, four more years.''

Assailing President Bush's challenger, Cheney told the friendly crowd the Democrat had boasted of standing against the NRA.

"Senator Kerry has consistently supported punishing lawful manufacturers for actions committed by criminals,'' Cheney said. "He has singled out firearms makers as unworthy of bankruptcy protection, even from debts caused by fraud.''

Cheney pointed out that Kerry had interrupted his primary campaigning earlier this year to cast a vote in the Senate against a bill that would have shielded gun manufacturers from liability suits. That measure was pulled from the Senate floor when, in an unusual legislative reversal for the NRA, senators amended it to include an extension of a 1994 ban on assault weapons whose repeal is one of the group's chief priorities.

Despite his strong support from the NRA, President Bush has said that he favors an extension of the assault weapons provision. Cheney avoided mention of that issue last night, but pledged that the president was anxious to sign "a clean bill,'' on the liability shield.

In anticipation of the Cheney visit, the Kerry campaign released a statement criticizing the administration's inaction on the extension of the assault weapons ban.

Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Vice President Dick Cheney addresses the NRA convention last night. Click photo for larger image.

"We all know Bush and Cheney have broken their promises on Iraq and the economy, but most voters don't know that they are standing against major police organizations and breaking their promise to renew the assault weapons ban -- which helps keep military-style assault weapons out of the hands of criminals and terrorists,'' said Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton, "John Kerry used assault weapons in the military, so he understands that they're not meant for hunting dove or deer."

Kerry has repeatedly noted that he owns guns and is a hunter himself, but judging from last night's reactions and the consistent statements of the group's hierarchy, that has not dented the gun lobby's hostility to the Democrat's candidacy.

The NRA endorsed Bush four years ago and appears certain to do so again later this year.

In addition to their opposition to the administration's statements on the assault weapons ban, some conservatives have been critical of elements of the USA Patriot Act. The Republican ticket, nonetheless, seems certain to once again enjoy broad support from NRA members.

Members of the group applauded as the vice president pledged to press the war in Iraq despite the recent upsurge in violence there.

"Our will is still being tested in Iraq as we have seen with the heavy fighting this month,'' Cheney said. "We will continue taking decisive action until the dangers to our country are removed. These are not times for leaders who shift with the political winds, saying one thing one day and another the next.''

The Republican renewed administration criticism of Kerry for voting to authorize the decision to go to war, while opposing a supplemental appropriation of $87 billion for the war's aftermath.

Cheney's Downtown appearance came a day after Kerry, D-Mass., appearing a few miles away, had pointedly noted that the vice president, along with presidential political adviser Karl Rove, had not served in Vietnam. Kerry singled them out while expressing anger at Republican charges that he had failed to support the troops in Iraq. Cheney was exempted from the war-era draft first because of a student deferment, and a subsequent deferment based on the birth of his first child.

Marc Racicot, the Republican national chairman, denounced Kerry's attack yesterday.

"Every time John Kerry's public record as a U.S. senator is discussed, he lashes out and claims his patriotism has been impugned instead of engaging in debate and defending his record,'' he said. The Bush-Cheney campaign has never and will never question Senator Kerry's patriotism, but his record, votes and statements are legitimate areas for discussion.''

Opening his remarks, the staid Cheney poked fun at himself in assessing the Democrat's ongoing search for a running mate.

"The big question is, will he go for someone who is sober, serious and well versed in policy,'' Cheney dead-panned, "or will he follow President Bush's lead and settle for pure charisma.''

The high-profile campaigning will continue here tomorrow when President Bush comes to town to support U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter.