THE GUNS OF COWTOWN

POLITRICKS At June’s Democratic State Convention in Fort Worth, State Senator HUGH PARMER of Fort Worth found a good way to dramatize his differences with his opponent, U.S. Senator PHIL GRAMM That week, Gramm, a fervent NRA backer, had refused to support a crime bill that would have outlawed several types of automatic weapons.

So Farmer provided the otherwise humdrum gathering with what turned out to be its most dramatic moment: after announcing his opposition to most types of gun control, Partner reached behind the podium, seized an actual Soviet-made AK-47 assault rifle, and cocked it beside the microphone, filling the hall with a thunderous kiiishhhiccckkk and bringing traffic to a stop in the aisles. “The only person who needs a gun like this,” he told the hushed crowd, “is a terrorist or a drug dealer!”

TRAVIS PARMER, the candidate’s 23-year-old son,says the rifle was loaned to the campaign by “asupporter in law enforcement.” After Farmer père hadpracticed his speech with the gun, the younger Partnerwas charged with getting it into the Tarrant CountyConvention Center-after, he stresses, all relevantsecurity forces were warned of the stunt. “My biggestconcern was that the armed officers knew what wascoming,” he says. A policeman at the stage gave the unloaded gun a final check, and Parmer stowed it behind the podium.

A woman who was doing sign translations of speeches for the deaf was told what to expect, but about halfway through the speech she tired and was replaced by a man who wasn’t in the know. As the moment for the rifle approached, the woman signer tried to warn the substitute of the surprise, but he was intent on translating and didn’t catch her meaning. She tried again, with Travis Parmer pointing frantically to the podium, and this time the light dawned. “He jumped about a foot off the ground,” Parmer says.