Executive vice president of the National Rifle Association Wayne LaPierre went on offense at the American Conservative Union’s annual Conservative Political Action Conference following a firestorm of criticism in the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 people dead.
LaPierre, immediately following a fiery mainstage speech by NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch, reiterated the NRA’s calls to arm schools and took aim at Democrats and the media for politicizing school shootings.
“It’s not a safety issue, it’s a political issue,” LaPierre said while making the case for armed security in American schools.
“Our banks, our airports, our NBA games, our NFL games, our office buildings, our movie stars, our politicians, they’re all more protected than our children at school,” LaPierre said. “Does that make any sense to anybody?”
“Do we really love our money and our celebrities more than we love our children?” LaPierre added.
“Evil walks among us, and God help us if we don’t arm our schools and protect our kids,” LaPierre said.
LaPierre also reiterated the NRA’s efforts to protect schools by offering free professional help in keeping schools safe.
“Any American school that needs immediate professional consultation and help with organizing and to finding these solutions should call the National Rifle Association School Shield program,” LaPierre said.
“That’s more than anybody at the Democratic National Committee or NBC News or the Washington Post is offering,” he added.
LaPierre also went after the FBI for its failure to prevent the Florida shooting.
“Even the FBI is not free of its own corruption,” LaPierre said. “I can understand a few bad apples in organizations as large as the FBI, but what’s hard to understand is why no one at the FBI stood up and called BS on its rogue leadership.”
The attacks on the FBI come in light of revelations last week that the agency failed to follow-up on information that the Florida shooter could have been a threat. Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered an “immediate review” into the DOJ and FBI last Friday in response.
LaPierre’s speech also comes as President Trump has called for new gun control laws including new background checks, a bump stock ban and a raise in the age limit, all of which could put Trump at odds with the NRA.
Though LaPierre did not address President Trump’s proposed reforms directly, he did allude to the president’s call for enhanced background checks.
“When you hear politicians who won’t fix the broken system talk about expanding it, don’t buy it,” LaPierre said in a video shown to the audience during the speech.
President Trump meanwhile praised LaPierre on Twitter earlier this morning, writing, “What many people don’t understand, or don’t want to understand, is that Wayne, Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots. They Love our Country and will do the right thing. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
What many people don’t understand, or don’t want to understand, is that Wayne, Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots. They love our Country and will do the right thing. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018
LaPierre’s speech went beyond gun control however to warn about the creeping tide of socialism taking over the Democratic Party, attacking Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who identifies as an independent.
“Socialism is a movement that loves a smear,” LaPierre said while making the case that other freedoms beyond gun rights are in danger, including the freedom of speech. “Real freedom requires the protection of all of our rights. And a Second Amendment isn’t worth its own words in a country where all individual freedoms are destroyed.”
LaPierre ended his speech with the often repeated line, “To stop a bad guy with a gun. It takes a good guy with a gun,” with thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
