Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association’s Executive Vice President and CEO, gave a poignant defense of our Second Amendment rights at CPAC today. He admitted that his views on guns don’t get him “invited to a lot of parties in this town.” He took a proverbial shot at the media for the NRA’s alleged extremism, but said that they could call him crazy, “but the NRA’s five million members and America’s 100 million gun owners won’t back down.”
He aptly noted that “our Founding Fathers knew that without Second Amendment freedom … all of our freedoms could be in jeopardy… if you aren’t free to protect yourself … when government puts its thumb on that freedom … then you aren’t free at all…our individual liberty is the very essence of America. It is what makes America unique.”
LaPierre took pride in the fact that no organization in the world has spent the amount of money the NRA has to keep Americans safe. To the liberal activists, their allies in the media, and anti-gun extremists, LaPierre declared that the NRA “will not be demonized, and we will not be silent.”
LaPierre discussed the NRA’s commitment to gun safety and training saying,”while gun ownership is at an all-time high … we’ve brought accidents with firearms to an all-time low…we’ve been training America’s military and law enforcement officers since NRA’s founding, way back in 1871…we teach people to use firearms responsibly.”
In keeping with their commitment to safety, the NRA proposed trained armed guards – or police – in every school in order to prevent a repeat of the horrifying Newtown shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. In fact, Newtown’s Board of Education adopted the NRA’s initiative last month. The political left called the NRA’s proposal absurd. LaPierre simply responded by saying, “you know what’s really absurd? Not protecting our children at school…the vast majority of Americans agree with armed guards in schools…there isn’t a mom or a dad anywhere who wouldn’t feel better seeing a police car in the parking lot when they drop their kids off.”
However, Washington seems to be content with expanding background checks. LaPierre said that, “their [liberals] check only includes good, law-abiding people like you and me…that’s their answer to criminal violence? Criminalize 100 million law-abiding gun owners in a private transfer? Out of 76,000 prohibited persons flagged by the instant check system, only 13 were successfully prosecuted nationwide. In the end, there are only two reasons for government to create that federal registry of gun owners – to tax them and to take them.”
In the meantime, liberals have enacted some of the most stringent anti-gun law on the books in Chicago, which has resulted in a homicide epidemic. They’re also ranked dead last in gun prosecutions. The Department of Homeland Security released a safety video on what to do if a shooting takes place in your workplace. It literally says if you can’t find cover, use whatever is available to defend yourself. The video showed a person grabbing a pair of scissors. The two words that best describes liberal policies to curb violent crime: inefficient and frivolous. Yet, they want us to trust them with their gun control initiatives.
Also, as the Democrats pride themselves being the party for women, they’ve given rather odd advice when it comes to protection from a would-be attackers. LaPierre mocked Vice President Biden, who said that women should “empty their shotguns into the air.” The problem is that, depending on which state you reside in, it could be a felony.
LaPierre was concise in his response to Biden’s stance: “well, Mr. VP for four decades, you’ve enjoyed armed protection while trying to destroy the 2nd Amendment rights of the rest of us…when it comes to that right, Sir … you keep your advice … we’ll keep our guns!”
As he closed, LaPierre was adamant in his stance for individual liberty, and said that freedom is always on the line during every election year. Californians re-elected Dianne Feinstein to the U.S. Senate. Now, she’s advancing an anti-gun bill, which she admits was on her agenda for over a year – but needed the proper tragedy in order to maximize its political effect. He said, “the political class in the media don’t get it. They’ve lost track about what makes this country great.” With Democrats practicing craven politics in their policy strategy, and the media abetting them, it should make any conservative proud that we have allies, like LaPierre and the NRA, in Washington.
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