Gun Battle

By Sally B. Donnelly/Washington

Last fall Bill Clinton tore up his schedule to help elect JOHN STREET mayor of Philadelphia. The President worked the phones, deployed emissaries to get out the vote and made a last-minute visit to Philadelphia for the Democratic candidate, who won by a narrow margin. But Street doesn't seem to be overflowing with gratitude. He has embarrassed the Administration by endorsing a city suit against 14 firearms manufacturers--including Smith & Wesson, which signed an agreement in March to install new safety features in exchange for assurances that the company would be left out of a suit the Federal Government is considering against gunmakers. Worse, Street and his deputies aren't taking calls from top U.S. officials, apparently including Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo, who are trying to get him to drop Smith & Wesson from the suit. With the Administration calling on other gunmakers to cut similar deals, Street's recalcitrance is not helping.

--By Sally B. Donnelly/Washington