He's been called "idiot mayor."

Worse, he's been called anti-gun.

But Hurst, Texas Mayor Richard Ward, a hunter and gun owner, knows how to pull the trigger himself.

"It's as if we're going to take their first born," Ward said of the National Rifle Association and other critics who don't like that he's joined a national mayors effort to tighten restrictions on some gun sales. "They've just been giving us fits."

Ward is in a Texas-style showdown with gun lovers for being the only mayor in Texas to join Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

The group says it is trying to close the loophole that allows private sales of guns at gun shows without background checks.

The goal, the group says, is to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

The group, begun by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, now has about 400 members, its Web site shows.

Its goal is to do "everything in our power to protect our residents, especially our children, from harm and there is no greater threat to public safety than the threat of illegal guns," it states.

The NRA has a different view.

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