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Subscribe to RSSAfter a controversial press conference last week, NRA head Wayne LaPierre made an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" saying the American people would be "crazy" to not put armed guards in schools. Meanwhile, Newtown, Conn., continues coping with the death of 26 people during the tragic shooting. NBC's Ron Mott report.
Updated 10:50 a.m. ET: On NBC’s Meet the Press, National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre on Sunday refused to support new gun control legislation and maintained his support for putting armed guards and police in schools in response to the Dec. 14 school shootings in Newtown, Conn.
“If it’s crazy to call for putting police in and securing our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy,” LaPierre told NBC’s David Gregory. “I think the American people think it’s crazy not to do it. It’s the one thing that would keep people safe and the NRA is going try to do that.”
He added that the United States is now spending $2 billion to train police officers in Iraq and asked why federal funds could not be spent to train school guards to protect schools in the United States.
Asked about restricting the size of ammunition magazine or clips, LaPierre said, “I don’t believe that’s going to make one difference. There are so many different ways to evade that, even if you had that. You had that for 10 years when (Sen.) Dianne Feinstein passed that ban in ’94. It was on the books. Columbine occurred right in the middle of it – it didn’t make any difference.”
For the first time since the Connecticut shootings, NRA Chief Wayne LaPierre answers questions from NBC's David Gregory about his organization's stance on gun violence in America.
Feinstein, D-Calif., was the author of the 1994 ban on certain types of semiautomatic firearms which expired in 2004. She has announced that she will introduce new legislation early next year. Semiautomatic firearms, including semiautomatic weapons sometimes called “assault weapons,” fire one round per pull of the trigger.
“I know there’s a media machine in this country that wants to blame guns every time something happens,” LaPierre said, but he insisted that an armed guard might have been able to stop Adam Lanza, the killer in Connecticut.
“If I’m a mom or a dad and I’m dropping my child off at school I’d feel a whole lot safer” if there were trained armed security guards or police protecting the school from people such as Lanza, LaPierre said, although he conceded that “nothing is perfect” as a deterrent against crime.
LaPierre also said, “We have a mental health system in this country that has completely and totally collapsed. We have no national database of these lunatics” and complained that de-institutionalization of the mentally ill had put too many dangerous people on the streets of America. “We have a completely cracked mentally ill system that’s got these monsters walking the streets,” LaPierre said.
And he said many states do not put their records of those adjudicated to be mentally ill into the national instant check system that is designed to screen out convicted criminals and the mentally ill from buying guns.
The NRA CEO also argued that the federal government had invested far too little effort into enforcing the longstanding federal law that makes it illegal for convicted felons to possess guns. The federal effort to enforce existing restrictions on gun possession, he said, is “pitiful.”
On Meet the Press, NRA chief Wayne LaPierre forcefully defended his call for armed officers in every school. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
He said, “If you want to control violent criminals, take them off the street.”
But he firmly opposed curbs on private gun sales and contended that the advocates of stringent restrictions on such sales want to put “every gun sale under the thumb of the federal government.”
LaPierre called Feinstein’s bill “a phony piece of legislation” which he predicted would not become law.
After a week of silence following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School the NRA responded, saying armed guns in schools is the answer. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," said Wayne LaPierre, NRA's executive vice president. NBC's John Harwood reports.
President Barack Obama has tasked Vice President Joe Biden with the job of consulting with members of the Cabinet and outside organizations to come up with legislative proposals by next month.
When asked about this initiative, LaPierre said, “if it’s a panel that’s just going to be made up of a bunch of people that for the past 20 years has been trying to destroy the Second Amendment, I’m not interested in sitting on that panel…. The NRA is not going to let people lose the Second Amendment in this country.”
Following LaPierre on Meet the Press, Sen. Charles Schumer, D- N.Y., said that the NRA leader is “so extreme and so tone deaf that he actually helps the cause of us passing sensible gun legislation in the Congress…. He is so doctrinaire and so adamant that I believe gun owners turn against him as well.”
Schumer said that LaPierre believes “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is good gun with a gun. What about trying to stop the bad guy from getting the gun in the first place? That’s common sense. Most Americans agree with it.”
But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R- S.C., said killers such as Lanza were “non-traditional criminals… people who are not wired right for some reason. And I don’t know if there’s anything Lindsey Graham can do in the Senate to stop mass murder from somebody that’s hell bent on doing crazy things” -- apart from better security in schools. The South Carolina Republican also called for getting “mass murders off the streets before they act, by better mental health detection.”
After a week of calls for tighter gun restrictions, the National Rifle Association called for putting more armed security officers in the nation's schools and expressed concerns about violence portrayed in video games, movies and music. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
Graham said that while he was out Christmas shopping in South Carolina this weekend, people “have come up to me (and said) ‘Please don’t let the government take my guns away.’ And I’m going to stand against the assault (weapons) ban because it didn’t work before and it won’t work in the future.”
LaPierre’s appearance on Meet the Press followed the strong reaction over his defiant stand during a Friday press briefing about the NRA’s response to the Connecticut school shootings.
Amid a national debate over what security measures school administrators should take to ensure the safety of students, gun-control advocates reacted with disbelief Friday to LaPierre’s call for armed guards in every school and his blaming of Hollywood films, video games, and popular music for school shootings such as the one in Connecticut.
How firmly the NRA’s allies in Congress will oppose any new legislative initiatives from Obama, Feinstein or others remains an open question.
In a test of the NRA’s legislative influence, the House of Representatives late last year passed the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act, which has not yet been acted on by the Senate.
In the House vote, 229 Republicans and 43 Democrats voted for the NRA-backed bill.
The House bill allows a person with a photo identification card and a valid permit to carry a concealed firearm in one state to carry a concealed handgun in another state in accordance with the restrictions of that second state.
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There is a difference between being steadfast and reliable in your convictions and obnoxiously unyielding to the point of pigheadedness. People with the LaPierre mentality are clearly examples of the latter and unfortunately since the conservatives, whether under the (Im)moral Majority (minority) of Gingrich or the Tea Party (no resemblance whatsoever in character to the aims or philosophy of the original radical-viewed Boston Tea Party) idiocy of today, started being able to infest all the mechanisms that make our society function with their hypocrisy and obstructionism, too many people, especially too many policy makers, have confused the conservative pigheadedness and unwillingness to budge a millimeter on anything as being principled. Both in the common sense standardization of background check requirements on ALL gun and ammo sales, whether gun dealer or private transactions, type proposals or the common sense proposals advocated by moderates in the fiscal cliff economic discussions, it is and has been the conservative mindset that has continued to stop any progress. Most NRA members and hunting/sporting gun enthusiasts aren't against common sense ideas and most aren't the draw a line in the sand regardless of the consequences muleheads like LaPierre. And on the economic front, living within your means isn't a conservative philosophy only and conservatism is not the majority viewpoint or will of this country and people who point that out aren't thus claiming liberalism is either. Believe it or not there is a point of view called moderate and, surprise, surprise, that viewpoint believes in compromise which coincidentally enough all the major tools used to measure societal thinking completely reflects what most Americans want.
Not 1 inch will be given on the 2nd Amendment..
You already have given that inch when you allowed the gov to ban fully auto weapons, and other weapons.
@wallace they aren't banned you just have to go through a few more checks and pay a tax to get them.
The government can not GUARANTEE that criminals will have NO access to firearms. As such, I, as a law abiding citizen have the God given RIGHT to defend myself and my family.
If criminals have access to so-called "Assault" rifles, then I have a right to access to the same.
It amazes me that the same administration that sells "Assault" rifles to drug lords (did we forget "Fast and Furious") that are then used to murder law enforcement officials has the audacity to try to ban the same from it's law abiding citizens.
liberals don't understand that government is as corrupt as criminals.
Noone is proposing taking your guns. Just regulating the sale to criminals at gun shows and mandating training on purchase.
"Call me crazy"...OK!
I firmly believe that if Adam Lanza did not have access to guns he would have found another way to carry out his intent. For instance, its incredibly easy to learn how to make a homemade bomb and get the materials required. What happened was a tremendous tragedy, and my heart goes out to the families, not least because I have two children of my own. But even though guns enabled Adam Lanza to commit this atrocity, the problem is not guns or gun control. The problem, I believe, is how America has evolved socially. I believe the issue is that America has failed its children by letting family values erode to the point where some develop in emotional isolation, and the rare few carry this isolation into adulthood where it evolves into feelings of hatred, revenge, self loathing, etc. Just look at Middle Eastern and Asian culture. How many school shootings have been reported there? Granted, they have different problems, like suicide bombers, which are the result of a completely different problem. But their family values are strong, and people grow into adulthood relatively well-adjusted.
I believe that if the federal government put the money and effort into promoting family values that would otherwise go to furthering gun legislation, we would see fewer of these shootings in the future. I'm not against gun control, I just think that guns are NOT at the very roots of this problem.
So LaPierre is implicitly volunteering the NRA to pay for all of the armed guards at all of the schools in the US? Since the US federal government is broke and most state governments do not have a funding surplus, LaPierre obviously means to fund all of the expenses associated with armed guards at our schools?
Why would NRA do that. Personally I think the pharmaceutical companies should pay for it. There not even mentioning that this crazy was on psychotropics.
Actually, you will pay through increased tax dollars. Thanks for promoting gov health care.
Appearing on national television is not exactly the thearopy for mentally ill people we had in mind for people like this NRA nut.
Yes, you're crazy.
Why is the headline not "Liberals and anti-gun nuts fail to support the NRA in providing positive protection for our children".
Can someone explain why you defend the assult weapon after these kids got killed? Why do you all need such a gun any more than I need a machine gun? Whats wrong with owning a shotgun? All the gun I ever wanted or needed, for hunting OR self defense. I don't remember when anything else was ever needed in the last 80 years. One person says guns don't kill people and every NRA supporter repeats like a parrot. You need to learn to think for yourselves You don't understand how silly you sound. I think youre a bunch of rednecks that about to get taken down a notch.
Ralph, name calling is not rational and FYI Shotguns kill mor people than rifles. The FBI report of 2011 shows 328 people killed with a rifle and of those 328 less than half are estimated to have been "assault rifle" . On the other hand 358 were committed with shotguns.
The founding fathers wrote the constitution and the bill of rights to ensure we maintained a free state and could defend ourselves from an invading force and an oppressive government. The 2nd amendment was written using the term "arms" which is not inclusive to small arms, but we as reasonable Americans citizens understand that we do not need battle ships and tanks to stop an invader, however we do need small arms comparable to what they would have I.e. government less likely to oppress its people if thy have the ability to stop them.
Millions of law abiding citizens own these weapons and will never do harm to anyone with them. You are more likely to get killed by a drunk driver.
the president and government officials and the liberal hollywood stars all have armed people guarding them, what is wrong with us having armed guards guarding our most precious asset- our children? do you idiots really believe that just because a ban is made on guns that criminals are going to abide by the law ?????????????
Jalo if you want to know whats wrong with it, its not freedom, its a police state like hitler had.
Ralph-358785. If they take away our Right to Bear Arms, which is the 2nd amendment to our Constitution, THAT is not freedom. Then we would truly be a police state like Hitler. Protecting ourselves and our children is not being a police state, it is common sense.
Do people still believe that behavior can be influenced/controlled by legislation? In our political, historical and even evolutionary history have we ever found a way to respond to threats real, perceived, imagined or contrived other than violence. We seem to forget who the perpetrators of this insanity most often are. Our so called leaders. So sure let's allow the worst offenders another opportunity to instruct us in what they say not what they do.
I think it is funny how they would not take any questions for 5 days. When you have to deceive people about what you are saying, you have to put great thought into it.
However when you tell the truth or do not use deception you do not have to, because the truth never changes.
Out of the mass shootings in the US, it's often the shooter (with mental issues) that bought the gun, ammo, and huge clips.
VA Tech, Tuscon, Colorado, Milwaukee, Kenosha, etc.
The shooter in Conn was taught to shoot by his mother and allowed access to her guns.
Nuts with ready access to killing machines. Makes sense to the NRA idiots it seems!
it was the drugs for his illness prescribed by a lib psychiatrist that caused a metal break....
ban lib psychiatrist...............
sheeple..............
the Bell will toll
So, you are saying LaPierre is wrong about treating the mentally ill? Ban dumb red neck gun owners who are too stupid to lock up their guns, even with a crazy relative living with them.
Most gun owners are red neck, Bambi killers, who have had zero training in gun or hunting safety. Many fall out of their tree stands and die, shoot other hunters like Cheney or discharge the weapon thinking it was unloaded which happened a few days ago as some gun lover shot his 9 year old son with an auto pistol.
I was a hunter for years, quail. Stopped when deer hunting became popular and kids roamed the woods with 30-30 rifles and no training.
With a loser like Diane F. and Obiden leading the charge for the AntiGun movement it should be an easy rout for the NRA. Growing every day the NRA has the clout to shut them down cause every day those of us who want to keep the 2nd admendment as the only admendment still standing need to support the NRA and the fight.
When someone says the answer to gun violence is more guns....then yes, they are crazy.
Well it would work if are education in this country was actually good. It works in many countries. Everyone in Switzerland has one. So yes it does work.
Ok, let's see if I have this straight. You create a lax, and permissive culture with relation to guns. You push for less laws against them and greater access. The natural proliferation of guns proceeds to the point that gun violence becomes a problem. Then you fight any attempt to to control guns claiming some violent grasp on your second amendment rights ,push for even more and claim that the problem YOU created needs even more gun proliferation to fix it?? /.......Ooooook........ backing away slowly.......
Ed - The only problem with your statement is that there are more guns in America now than ever before. Crime and murder is down almost 50% . Why does the politicians have armed guards guarding their children. Are they more important than ours?
Crime is down? Hhaha I thought that Chicago and Detroit and California was going wild with murders? Which is it today Beck? Which stats will you use to prove which ridiculous points?
I keep guns because America is dangerous or I keep guns because America is safe and we dont need security guards? Dummy
If crime is down, then why do you all claim that gun control doesn't work...seems like it is...You cannot have it both ways you know LOL
As long as criminals have access to firearms I have the God given right to defend myself and my family.
I find it ludicrous that the same administration that actually sold drug lords "Assault" weapons that were used to murder Law Enforcement officials has the audacity to try to ban our right to bear arms and defend ourselves against the criminals that our government provides arms to.
Why does the NRA protest about having background checks at gun shows? Seems they LIKE having gun access for CRIMINALS..
That's your side, you sad Gumby!
Wrong... I fully support background checks.
That still does not explain this administrations actions of arming drug lords. Those same drug lords used those weapons to commit crimes and murder US citizens.
Can we get an explanation as to why that is a good idea?
@Herron
sad sheeple with a metal penis complex
.................
the Bell will toll
kourgath WHO is trying to ban your right to a gun? Do you understand english? You have quite an imagination. Hope you don't run for political office, we have too many like you.
Are you kidding? It has always been the lefts agenda to remove the Second Amendment from the Constitution.
If you do not believe this then you should do some research yourself.
It's Sunday morning and the "God and Guns" party members must be getting ready to attend their church to worship their one true God...........THE GUN
Hallelujah...
What sums this up is the LaPierre idiot had drool coming out of the corner of his mouth during the whole MTP session.
Get the moron a drool cup! Put him on the list of crazies that shouldn't own guns!
Your mom wants you to take your meds
MSNBC is the organization that is DEFIANT
Well now...all the SCUMLIBS want to disarm REAL AMERICANS,whats new ?LOLOLOL I didn't belong to any gun rights org before but guess what ! SCUMDEMS are driving membership and gun and ammo sales thru the roof ! I saw one remark about the military stopping any uprisings against the SCUMDEMS.....Hate to tell you BUT... 90 % of them would join in with AMERICANS ! SCUMBAMA AND THE SCUMDEMS are hated that much ! I never paid too much attention when I was in the military,my fault, I do now.I don't much care what you SCUMDEMS want or try.....Are you gonna try and take mine ? I want to see the PUNK PINNED TO A BADGE TRY IT !
Why are you against disarming people with known mental issues? You like that criminals can buy guns unchecked at gun shows, I bet!
Seems like all the violent language is coming from the likes of you again Thanks for making our point LOL LOL
Reading posts like this from insane, delusional and angry dumb FUX News fans..............
Makes me want to go guy a gun....
Actually fux news isn't the problem. Its liberals that actually believe are government is right and people with guns is the problem.
NEWBOOK...If you don't know how to "guy a gun" then I'm sure you don't know how to shoot or load one either....lol
@Heron
I fully support background checks and agree that those with mental issues need to be evaluated for whether they can or should be allowed to own a gun.
But this administration is not stopping there. This administrations goal is to remove guns from the law abiding citizens of our nation while doing NOTHING about criminal access to the same.
Heck... this administration actually sells "ASSAULT" weapons to drug lords.
Fast and Furious anyone?
Why is everyone hung up on guns or no guns? The common link here is the mental health issue. Every one of these mass shooters have had issues to deal with. I agree with the NRA comments about the violent video games, movies etc. We as a society have been desensitized to violence. If you take guns away, the crazy people out there will find other ways to carry out their mass destruction. All someone has to do to kill dozens of innocent young school children is to drive a car through a playground running children over. Will there be a call to ban all vehicles then? The Oklahoma City bombing was done with a rental truck and fertilizer but there were no calls to ban either of those items. The baby boomers like myself remember growing up with pocket knives in our pockets when we went to school and schools even having gun clubs. We didn't have these problems as kids because we watched things on television that promoted positive behavior and family values. Censorship is not such a bad thing in this case. Why is it a violation of freedom of speech to censor these video games like "Kindergarten Killers" but not a violation of gun owners freedoms to take away our right to own weapons legally. The bottom line is that we as a society need to address the issue of evil violent people and how to protect ourselves and our children. We need parents to take responsibility in raising their children. We need the press to start spending more time reporting good news about people doing good things than spending all their time on the bad things that society does. The good influences may rub off on those watching and make them want to help 26 people tomorrow instead of killing 26 people tomorrow to make the news. While the government is putting together a task force to spend God knows how long to start to put a plan in place, that will probably have hidden political agendas, the NRA has come forth with some suggestions on how to address the problem right away, and has offered their assistance in doing so. I listened to the entire speech and came away with a much different viewpoint than that being forced upon us by the press. Go to the NRA websight and either read the speech or click on the video link to listen to the speech and make up your own mind before jumping on the bandwagon.
The gun free school zone is the attraction for these shooters,no chance of any opposition.
No weapon or magazine law will stop the carnage,the NRA is correct.
The usual suspects(Feinstein,Lautenberg,major electronic and print media)are just selling the same old snake oil.
They let their hatred of the NRA and firearms make them lose track of the whole purpose,to protect the helpless.(but of course they have well armed bodyguards)
Back in the Day before she had hired guns Diane F packed a gun. My have times change when someone else is paying for your security.
There are been armed guards in schools around the country FOR YEARS. Stop with your nonsense!
There were armed guards at Columbine, and an ENTIRE CAMPUS POLICE FORCE at VA Tech!
How many guards at each school do you want? At one per school, the cost would be over $6,000,000,000 A YEAR! (100k schools, and $60k/year average cost per officer)
Thats a drop for the government. Look were 16 trillion in debt. Bush and Obama have no problem destroying are dollar in the name of defense and the feeling of cozy safety. Look at what the patriot act has done to us. Free strip searches at the airport.
The security measures in government offices seems to work,and nobody bitches about the cost because it's for THEIR safety.
For the kids?
WAH!Too much money!!!
Prove there were armed guards at columbine
Herron you're a fool. if you think that a security guard and a motorcycle cop a mile away was a sufficient "armed guards at Columbine" then you're mis-informed.
this was from the police dept. records.
Now let me ask you, if that security guard was not there, how many more would have died?
Exactly, you cant deny the fact that we will never know. But, it did stop more deaths. and that is a fact we do know.
If the White House would stop funding the Muslim Terrorhood in Egypt, we could at least put that money towards school security.
The armed guard at Columbine was there to patrol the parking lot and make sure kids did not smoke or leave campus. The VT police are not assigned to a specific building on campus. Universities are a different monster in this debate. You ask how many guards I want at my kids schools? I think 6 would be appropriate. Why? Well, we put a minimum of 6 armed secret service agents at the school Obama's girls attend. The way I look at it is my kids are just as important as his and need to the same protection as his.
LaPierre is still a right wing hate monger. The fact that he attacks Democrats on all issues with his hate speeches proves what he really is:
Wayne LaPierre and the NRA have zero credibility: Wayne has been partnering
with Karl Rove and others to attack Obama and the Democrats on literally
everything. The NRA is no longer about Second Amendment issues; "Wayne's World" has
been attacking the Democrats on issues that have nothing to do with guns. Put
another way, the NRA is now nothing more than a Right Wing hate group that uses
membership dues and donation solicitations to attack Democrats and defend
Republican-Tea Party incompetence, corruption, fraud and treason (sabotage of
our economic recovery for example). In other words, the NRA, in addition to
being a Right Wing hate group, is also a Right Wing SuperPac. Anyone who does
not like Right Wing politics and corruption should dump their NRA membership
immediately...
LaPierre was shot dead the war of 1812 and never got over it. He's back in 2012 LOL
Wow liberals have no ommon sense. The hate monger is bush and obama. They have no interest in no wars. If you believe in disarming the militia and american people. Great Britain is across the pond. There criminals love feeding on the people.
Once again, the gun extremists pretend that any question about guns means there is going to be a door-to-door search and confiscation of their guns. Obama is not proposing that or anything like it (I own guns btw). My theory is this concerning many extreme gun owners: When the adventure isn't there - just imagine it! And that's what many do; they just imagine a situation where they are under attack and have to fight a guerrilla war in America - many dream of such things and wish it would really happen. Others are just plain paranoid. The majority of gun owners are law-abiding citizens. However, organizations like the National Rifle Association fuel membership and donations for right wing causes by creating paranoia with propaganda and outright lies and fraud. Wayne LaPierre, current leader of the NRA, has partnered with right wing traitors like Karl Rove. Put another way, "Wayne's World" has taken the NRA far way from an organization concerned mainly with Second Amendment rights and has turned that organization into, well, basically a right wing hate group that attacks Democrats on every issue available, including those having nothing to do with gun rights. So, the question remains: How do you solve any problem when you have organizations like the NRA that have an Islamic Fundamentalist's style reaction (or Christian Fundamentalist's style reaction for that matter) to any question or challenge concerning solving problems of violence? As a gun owner, I am open to any creative solution that will prevent tragedies like we saw unfold in Newtown, CT. A while ago, I gave up my NRA membership for the reasons mentioned above. I, like many other gun owners, want solutions. Not all gun owners are "Radical Fundamentalists" when it comes to gun ownership and solving problems in our society...
Guns are outlawed in Mexico, hows that working for them?
Even the ones obama sends down there?
Hows it working in Canada? That's more like the US, Gumby!
How about the guns that Reagan sold to Nicaraguan Rebels.. oh wait.... that must be okay... it was a republicant
For the last time Liberals its "MAGAZINES" NOT "CLIPS"
For the last time thomas, the 2nd amendment doesn't mean you can do anything you want with a gun. Freedom is NOT FREE
and the first admendment doesn't mean you can say anything with your mouth thats for you Times
SolarIstheWay
Duh... I already know that freedom of speech is NOT free.
Can you get a box load of nukes, as they are just Nuclear ARMS?
Of course not!
What the heck do the idiots not understand about "Well Regulated", as that is in the Second amendment!
We have freedom of speech thanks to guns.
It sounds like MSNBC and libtards are the only "defiant" and belligerent ones.