Spying allegation targets NRA Spying allegation targets NRA

Iti, in a word, bizarre: Recent news articles say "Mary McFate," a longtime gun-control activist who had aggressively sought a board position with the nation's pre-eminent group opposing gun violence, was possibly a paid spy for the largest gun-rights organization in the country.

Mother Jones magazine reported that McFate, whose real name is Mary Lou Sapone, had been a member of gun-control groups since at least 1998. The magazine and subsequent news articles say, however, that she was working undercover, presumably passing along strategies and plans to the National Rifle Association and other gun activists.

This tale of purported espionage would be more at home during the period of Cold War cloak-and-dagger operations. It stunned officials who know Sapone, including Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Within the past year, Sapone had sought a board position with the organization named after the former press secretary, Jim Brady; he was gravely wounded in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Reagan.

" It's a slap in the face to those who have been victims in the past," Helmke told me by phone Thursday evening. "They lost loved ones to gun violence," yet Sapone interacted with them as if she were in their corner.

The NRA repeatedly refused to comment to Mother Jones magazine, nor did it respond to requests for comment to the Associated Press. Its spokespeople did not return my calls for comment Thursday or Friday.

If the allegations are true - and civil depositions uncovered in the Mother Jones exposé strongly suggest they are - they lead to an obvious question: Why would the NRA or other gun groups even bother with spying?

Organizations such as the Brady Campaign readily announce their campaigns and legislative proposals, both on the Web and through the news media. Could there be other moles?

The NRA, with top lobbyists, strong financial backing and a huge staff, dwarfs its opponents. Most of the major gun legislation in the past half-dozen years has favored gun-rights groups. Also, the Supreme Court ruled this summer against a District of Columbia gun-control law. In sum, gun-control groups have been taking a beating.

However, officials at the Brady Center say the mid- to late-1990s had seen gains for sensible gun laws, and they theorize that the Sapone Affair may have been part of countering that tide. For example, the Brady Bill was signed into law in 1993, requiring a five-day waiting period and background checks on handgun purchases. A federal assault weapons ban took effect in 1994.

The Million Mom March brought hundreds of thousands of mothers and supporters to the nation's capital in 2000 to push for tougher gun legislation.

After President Clinton left office, however, gun rights groups tallied several victories. The assault weapons ban expired in 2004 without being renewed. In 2005, gun manufacturers and dealers gained immunity from civil litigation.

It's difficult to make the leap that Sapone's involvement was linked to these gun rights victories. Still, you have to wonder why she was planted in the first place.

Meanwhile, gun violence across the country and in South Hampton Roads continues, snatching lives and destroying families. Activists say that, every day, 32 people die in homicides and 52 are wounded by gunfire nationwide. Low-life thugs and innocent bystanders, depressed individuals and overly curious children all become victims.

Late Thursday night, Michael S. Phillips, a Virginia Beach undercover police detective, was added to the grim tally.

Two men have been charged in the shooting death. The suspects also face drug conspiracy charges.

That makes this spying episode all the more grotesque.

 Roger Chesley is associate editor of The Pilot's editorial page. Reach him at (757) 446-2329 or at roger.chesley@pilotonline.com.