By Washington correspondent Tom Carver

US President Bill Clinton has announced a crackdown on America's gun sellers following a report which showed that a small number of dealers were responsible for selling most of the guns used in crime.

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He said that the dealers would be subject to special inspections and required to supply tracing information on the guns they sold.

The National Rifle Association has dismissed it as a political ploy.

Gun control may be a hot political issue in America these days, but President Clinton has had little success in getting the Republican-controlled Congress to pass more stringent gun laws, so he is now changing tack and applying pressure directly to the gun dealers.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) will carry out inspections of the 1,000 gun shops whose products have been linked to more than 10 crimes each.

These dealers represent only 1% of all the gun outlets in America.

The White House has been trying to broker an agreement between the gun manufacturers, the dealers and state governments, which are suing the gun industry, but without success.

Some form of gun control is now a part of all the presidential candidates' manifestos in this year's election, but significant changes are only likely to occur if the various lawsuits ever come to trial or if the Republicans lose control of Congress to the Democrats in November's election.