ill Bradley yesterday turned Codman Square in Dorchester into a backdrop for his attack on Vice President Al Gore's gun control record, rankling some residents who wanted to focus more on the community's renaissance than its violent past.
Bradley, seeking a friendly haven in his embattled quest for the presidency, also encountered a protesting priest who interrupted his speech to demand a private meeting on the widening gap between the nation's rich and poor.
In one of Bradley's last stops in Massachusetts before the Democratic primary on March 7, the former New Jersey senator also brushed aside the latest national poll, which shows him trailing Gore by nearly 40 points, the widest margin in several months.
''I think that's a normal bump from New Hampshire,'' Bradley told reporters outside the Codman Square Health Center. ''It lasts about two weeks. Now we're in the third week.''
Meanwhile, Bradley launched his ad campaign for the March 7 primaries with a 30-second spot promoting his support for abortion rights. The ad does not mention Gore or the vice president's past opposition to federal funding for abortions, but highlights Bradley's role as the only candidate who ''has been prochoice for everyone all the time.''
Speaking to a crowd of about 150 inside the health center, Bradley renewed his call for the mandatory registration and licensing of all 65 million handguns in the country. Gore has recommended registering and licensing all new handguns, a plan that Bradley depicted as too timid to combat the nation's gun violence.
''He says it's impractical, it's too hard to do,'' Bradley said of Gore's response to his proposal. ''I guess that's the difference in our views of leadership.''
A spokesman for Gore, Doug Hattaway, countered that ''people are tired of politicians who make promises they can't deliver, and that is a real difference.''
As a prelude to Bradley's speech, several Dorchester residents recalled some of Codman Square's past horrors. Among the speakers were Joseph Chery, who lost his teenage son to gun violence, and Louray Barton, who had two stepsons shot to death.
Barton cited her son in the audience. He ''lost two brothers,'' she said. ''He was very, very young when he lost the first. He was becoming a man when he lost the second. I will not lose him. We need to continue to talk about this peril in our neigborhood.''
But others wanted to talk about issues such as education and community investment. ''I feel dirty,'' said Gerard Hurley, a security guard who lives on Bowdoin Street, after Bradley's speech. ''The criminals don't even make up 1 percent of the population, and we're making a big hullaballoo about them. What about the 99 percent who are not criminals and are out there working?''
Several other residents voiced similar feelings to reporters and City Councilor Charles Yancey, a Gore supporter who arrived at the end of Bradley's speech.
''My constituents tell me they're a little concerned about reinforcing the stereotype of a community of color being tied to crime and violence,'' Yancey said, though he acknowledged that Gore and President Clinton have used the same neighborhood to promote antiviolence themes.
In a rare disruption of a Bradley stump speech, the Rev. John Doyle, pastor of St. Peter's Church in Dorchester, sprang to his feet, complained that Bradley's staff had not yet granted him a meeting they had vowed to schedule with the former senator, and demanded a response. Doyle is part of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, which wants a law requiring all businesses that receive federal subsidies to pay a minimum ''living wage'' of $25,000 plus health benefits.
Bradley did not appear ruffled by the interruption. He agreed to a half-hour meeting with Doyle, and the pastor said afterward he was satisfied with Bradley's response.
