ORHAM, N.H. - George W. Bush thinks schoolchildren who break gun laws should be banned for life from buying weapons.
He thinks teachers who do their jobs well should be protected from vexatious lawsuits.
He thinks students should have the option of transferring out of unsafe schools.
And he wants the voters of New Hampshire to remember that he came all the way here to say so.
Bush, rounding out his vision for education policy in a speech here, called for schools to engender in children ''a spirit of moral courage'' with instruction in character, education, and discipline that helps them grow to ''be good and kind and decent.''
The speech, the third in a series on education and children, was delivered in the middle of a campaign swing that marked Bush's sixth visit to New Hampshire. That's fewer stops here than almost any other presidential candidate - a distinction Bush is eager to put behind him, particularly as Arizona Senator John McCain, another Republican candidate, steadily moves up in the polls.
Bush's day began with breakfast in the famed ballot room at the Balsams with 22 of the town's 29 registered voters in Dixville Notch - the community that, by tradition, is first in the nation to vote. Later he poured coffee for diners at Howard's Restaurant in Colebrook, and still later addressed about 250 businesspeople at the Northern White Mountain Chamber of Commerce here.
The governor's stepped-up campaign schedule is a result of sustained criticism he has faced for skipping two recent Republican forums and for his light travel schedule to the state. After his speech, Bush said he plans many more visits to New Hampshire and noted with pleasure that he has drawn large crowds everywhere he goes.
Senator Judd Gregg, Bush's chief backer in the Granite State, insisted that the governor is demonstrating the ''appropriate deference'' to the voters of the state. He said he knows of no other candidate who has given a major policy address in the North Country, for example.
''I think that's a statement of how important he sees New Hampshire,'' Gregg said. ''Most candidates come to the state and treat New Hampshire like it's a grip and grin state.''
Voters up North are evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, and the Chamber luncheon was no exception. Nevertheless, Bush received a warm reception.
Lucille Jalbert, for example, is a Democrat from Berlin who works for North Country Internet Access. After listening to Bush's speech, she said she thought she could vote for him in the general election.
''I think he's going to do well,'' Jalbert said.
And Bill Parsons, a sales representative for Top Furniture in Hampton, organized his sales calls to make sure he could attend ''to see our future president.'' He said he was not worried about the amount of time Bush has spent in the state.
''I think we start elections much too early in this country anyway, so you can't fault him,'' Parsons said.
In his speech, Bush focused on the need for safe schools that stress moral development.
''No child in America, regardless of background, should be forced to risk their lives in order to learn,'' he said. When children are afraid, Bush said, ''it is the ultimate betrayal of adult responsibility.'' And, he said, it communicates ''moral chaos.''
As president, Bush said he would revamp the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to make it more accountable for the $600 million it distributes each year. Taking a swipe at President Clinton, Bush said no one knows how the money is spent or whether it's doing any good.
He said he would require every school that receives these federal dollars to report on their safety records. And if schools continue to be dangerous, students would be allowed to transfer to a safe school, he said.
Bush also proposed creating a program called Project Sentry to prosecute students who use guns illegally or take guns to school, as well as the adults who provide guns to juveniles. He said that any juvenile found guilty of a serious gun violation will face a lifetime ban on carrying or purchasing a gun.
In another jab at the Clinton administration, he complained that although it is a federal crime to take a gun to a public school, only 13 of 3,900 violations reported in 1997 and 1998 have been prosecuted.
''It is easy to propose laws,'' Bush said. ''Sometimes it is easy to pass laws. But the measure of our seriousness is enforcing the law.''
While Bush was criticizing the Clinton administration, he was receiving some criticism himself. Joe Sudbay, political director of Handgun Control and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, said Bush has refused other opportunities to reduce gun violence. For example, he repealed a 125-year-old law in Texas that made it illegal to carry a concealed weapon.
''What he's given us is baby steps - baby steps that he can get past the NRA,'' Sudbay said.
Also critical was a spokesman for Vice President Al Gore. ''The governor's approach to school safety is bush-league. Time and time again when he has had the chance to choose between the gun industry and our kid's interest, he has sided with the gun industry.''
Bush also proposed a Teacher Protection Act to protect teachers, principals, and school board members from liability when they enforce ''reasonable'' rules. ''A lifetime dedicated to teaching must not be disrupted by a junk lawsuit,'' he said. Finally, Bush said he would triple the $8 million currently spent to promote character education, praising programs that advocate sexual abstinence and faith-based groups that work with children after school.
