Last week, the Bush administration made it official: Gun owners are welcome in the U.S.A. In a footnote to filings with the U.S. Supreme Court, the Justice Department declared for the first time that individuals, not just citizen-militias, have the right to bear arms.

In two separate briefs by Solicitor General Theodore Olson, the federal government reversed its long-standing position, saying now that the Constitution's second amendment "broadly protects the rights of individuals" to own firearms. Previously the prevailing view had been that that right was limited to the preservation of a well-regulated militia. The gun lobby had claimed that the right extended well beyond that. Now that the Bush administration has sided with the expanded view, an argument that's raged for 60 years may soon be settled.

Lots of people won't accept the change. City dwellers, and many people who live on the East and West coasts, are concerned. They tend to be very anti-gun and think that strict sanctions are needed to control gun violence.

But no one should be surprised where the White House came down on the issue. President Bush has always been pro-gun and that's been key to his success. He was elected to the White House with the help of Washington's most powerful interest group, the National Rifle Association.

The NRA ranked No. 1 last year in Fortune Magazine's survey of clout in the capital. The Washington Power 25 is a poll of D.C. insiders. And they understood that because the NRA spent millions electing Republicans, and a few friendly Democrats, that they held plenty of sway where it mattered.

Indeed, its efforts, which included buying TV ads and putting political operatives into key congressional districts, handed the home states of Al Gore and Bill Clinton to George Bush in the 2000 presidential contest. And that was enough for victory in a historically close race.

The NRA isn't the nation's largest lobby: It has 4 million members vs. the AARP's 35 million. But those members care so passionately about keeping their guns that they vote on that issue come Election Day. Now that so few people even bother to show up at the polling booth, any group that can promise thousands of voters pointed in one direction is a group that wields real power.

So when Bush faces other gun questions, like how far to close the gun-show loophole -- an issue that will rear its head thanks to Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman later this year -- expect him to lean toward the NRA. That will be a safe bet as long as Bush is in the White House.