"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," the NRA's Wayne LaPierre said.
In an amazing Friday morning press conference, the National Rifle Association broke its weeklong silence following the horrific shooting of 26 people at a school in Newtown, CT and called for a surge of gun-carrying "good guys" around American schools.
NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre called for a new kind of American domestic security revolving around armed civilians, arguing that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."
"We care about our president, so we protect him with armed Secret Service agents," LaPierre said. "Members of Congress work in offices surrounded by Capitol Police officers. Yet, when it comes to our most beloved, innocent, and vulnerable members of the American family, our children, we as a society leave them every day utterly defenseless, and the monsters and the predators of the world know it, and exploit it."
LaPierre's speech was a call to supporters to mobilize around a new vision of American domestic security, at a time when voices for gun control are steadily rising. On Friday morning before the press conference, President Obama released a video (above) citing a petition by hundreds of Americans calling for swift action.
At the grassroots level, groups like Newtown United, a group of Newtown neighbors, are working to address major issues related to the tragedy, including gun control, violent media, mental health and legislation.
In stark contrast, LaPierre called for a great mobilization of gun-carrying "good guys," a term he used repeatedly but did not define, who could be more present and respond more quickly than police.
"If we truly cherish our kids, more than our money, more than our celebrities, more than our sports stadiums, we must give them the greatest level of protection possible," LaPierre said. "And that security is only available with properly trained, armed 'good guys'."
LaPierre, who was interrupted twice by protesters who held signs in front of TV cameras, made a direct call for local action.
"I call on every parent. I call on every teacher. I call on every school administrator, every law enforcement officer in this country, to join with us and help create a national schools shield safety program to protect our children with the only positive line of defense that’s tested and proven to work," he said.
In his speech, LaPierre also accused the media of selling "violence against its own people" through violent video games, music videos and "blood-soaked" films. He did not take questions from reporters, and did not acknowledge the protesters.
Mayor Thomas Menino released a statement Friday eviscerating the NRA's message:
“There is an outpouring of voices demanding real change to make our communities safer. Clearly the NRA’s leadership is not one of them. What they announced today is not a plan, but a ploy to bring more guns into our neighborhoods. I don’t believe the answer to gun violence is more guns. The American people are tired of the same buzzwords and rhetoric that have moved this debate nowhere and put lives at risk. It’s time for a common sense national gun policy. It’s time to take action on background checks, assault weapons, high capacity magazines, missing mental health records and closing private sales loopholes. There is so much work to do; we don’t have time for rehashed and tired ideas. The American people and the families of the 34 people killed every day by gun violence demand nothing less.”
Peter Tabmow
3:27 pm on Friday, December 21, 2012
Is anyone surprised that the gun industry puppets at the NRA are treating this as a business opportunity?
Ajax
5:37 pm on Friday, December 21, 2012
Just because one believes in the right to own guns does not make one a "gun industry puppet."
Joseph
4:07 pm on Friday, December 21, 2012
After watching the video of Mayor Mumbles in rehab, there's absolutely no way he's able to formulate any coherent statement. The question that needs to be asked by reporters is who is actually running this city right now? This video should make all reporters covering City Hall ask the question, "Who's in charge and what exactly happened to Mumbles?"
"The American people are tired of the same buzzwords and rhetoric" Pretty much sums up our opinions of all politicians, especially our local politicians.
And on topic, for the life of me, why are the puppets who believe in strict gun laws unable to realize that no matter how strict these laws are, these sick, evil minded people who would actually shoot and kill a child will still find a way to get a weapon and follow through with their demented plot?
Peter Tabmow
9:49 pm on Friday, December 21, 2012
The rank and file of the NRA have been reduced to tools of the NRA board's gun industry masters. The membership's honest belief in their Second Amendment rights has been exploited and manipulated by the industry to push NRA policy to extremes undreamt of 50, 40, or 30 years ago. A little reflection on the events of last week could bring the responsible, rational majority of NRA members to their senses and then we might see the NRA start to regain some credibility. I would imagine the last thing a proud, independent American gun owner would want is to be revealed as a gullible pawn of big business. I challenge all thoughtful NRA members to wake up and fight to make the NRA in reality what it purports to be -- a grass roots organization.
Norman
1:14 pm on Tuesday, December 25, 2012
If you can convince the "rank and file" that regulating firearms further will make a meaningful impact on reducing mass killings than I think they would be willing to compromise. In the mean time, calling them names won't move the ball at all. I'd be interested to know what your experiences with members has been.
V. Kelley
3:06 pm on Saturday, December 22, 2012
Maybe we should put a surcharge on every firearm and box of bullets at the point of manufacture to pay for the 5000 or so "good guys with guns" advocated by the NRA!!!
Dan
9:26 am on Sunday, December 23, 2012
Any gun which has over 10 shoots or has a large magazine load or large bore should be removed from the streets. The general public does not lose its right to protect them selves and no hunter needs anything more or larger other wise its not a sport. Military assault guns have no use in the public realm at all. Anyone having any of these types of guns in their personal possession should be jailed.
One way to lessen the blow here is to allow people to create a gun club shooting range with a secured gun lockup allowing ownership of some of these guns at the site only.
Ajax
6:11 am on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
They do have use in the public realm.
"A well-armed populace is the best defense against tyranny"
David M.
11:33 am on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
May LaPierre is on to a good idea: expand the Secret Service to be present in every school in America, in sufficient force to repel the "bad guys". Given this is federal mandate, it will need to fun a federal agency. The Secret Service has the proper training and infrastucture to provide the service. Of course this will be expensive and needs to be funded, but general taxes must not increased. So the answer is to increase the "use and exchange fees" on firearms and the sale of ammunition to pay for the increased service. Every gun sale and every ammunition sale with require a fee sufficiently large that in the aggregate it will be sufficient to fund this program. Of course as most guns are already purchased, in order to raise the necessary funds there needs to be a national excise tax on guns: if you want to own a gun, you should be obligated to pay into a fund to make sure nutcases will not kill children. And the program must be fail-safe: if any child is ever killed in a school setting by a gun, the funding of the system would need to be increased until there are sufficient Secret Service agents in every school to stop every "bad person". Thus approach would be in logical keeping with the NRA: the "regulation" of guns would not increase (only their effective taxation).