Connecticut’s senior senator accused National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre of making “offensive remarks” at this weekend’s NRA conference in Houston.
“Yesterday, when NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said of the organization’s critics ‘let them be damned,’ he was talking to 90 percent of Americans who support criminal background checks and other common sense gun violence prevention measures. His remarks disgrace the organization and its members – most of them supporters of expanding background checks,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in a statement.
“LaPierre also callously claimed that the horrific tragedy in Newtown was used to ‘shame’ the organization. The truth is that the NRA shames itself by misleading the American public and its membership about the need for sensible gun safety measures, and working to block such measures at all costs.”
“We are in the midst of a once-in-a-generation fight for everything we care about. We have a chance to secure our freedom for a generation, or to lose it forever,” LaPierre said Saturday, noting that NRA membership was up 5 percent since Newtown.
“We must remain vigilant, ever resolute, and steadfastly growing and preparing for the even more critical battles that loom before us,” he said.
After gun-control failed to make it to the Senate floor following the defeat of key amendments, Blumenthal has been trying to keep it in the news as the focus of the upper chamber has shifted to immigration reform.
“I will continue to stand and work with victims of gun violence, law enforcement officials, and responsible gun owners to push for measures that keep our families and communities safe,” he said. “The offensive remarks made this weekend by LaPierre and other top leaders of the NRA will only cause us to redouble our efforts for common sense reform.”
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