Mark Kelly, NRA's Wayne LaPierre to testify at Senate gun hearing

National Rifle Association CEO and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. / Alex Wong

In the first congressional hearing on gun violence since President Obama announced sweeping new gun control proposals, stakeholders on both sides of the issue - including both the husband of a victim of gun violence and the CEO of the National Rifle Association -- will share a platform next week to testify on the subject in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The January 30 hearing, entitled "What Should America Do About Gun Violence?", will feature testimony from both the NRA's Wayne LaPierre and Mark Kelly, the husband to former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who was shot in the head during a mass shooting two years ago.

Kelly and Giffords recently co-founded Americans for Responsible Solutions, an advocacy group meant to combat the lobbying power of the NRA.

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LaPierre, meanwhile, has been an outspoken and unapologetic ambassador for his pro-gun lobby: In comments a week after the Newtown shooting, LaPierre gave a press conference railing against gun control advocates, calling not for stricter gun laws but for an armed guard in every school in the country.

Other witnesses at the hearing include James Johnson, chief of police for Baltimore County, Md., and chairman of the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence; Nicholas Johnson, a law professor at Fordham University School of Law, and Gayle Trotter, an attorney and senior fellow of the Independent Women's Forum.

[RickB2400]

By calling attention to 'a well regulated militia', the 'security' of the nation, and the right of each citizen 'to keep and bear arms', our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy. Although it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation, the Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason, I believe the Second Amendment will always be important."
-- Senator John F. Kennedy, 1960

[ammo17]

when holder and the atf sent over 2000 of these weapons ILLEGALLY over the border to the drug cartels the democrats thought nothing was wrong with giving aid to our enemy.now that the united states has seen what just one of these guns can cause a lot of damage they have a different outlook on what an assault rifle is,and what these drug cartels can do with over 2000 of them.i just hope that the people from the nra ask these politicians at the hearings why it is alright for over 2000 of these weapons to go across the border illegally.and also ask these slugs that we call politicians this question:how many of these people who used these weapons were nra members?ans:none.insane people committed these crimes and these slugs won`t admit we have a mental health problem in this country.

[nearl451]

Holder did not send them nor sell them.....the ATF simply let them walk.

The gun manufacturers made their profit off of them just like they are doing off the dead bodies of 20 Newtown Children.

Except for the F&F walking, the NRA is all for unfettered gun and ammo sales to ANYONE!!!

You can't have your argument both ways.

[Passacaglia]

When this very sick man testifies, supporters of gun law reform ought to gather outside the Senate and protest loudly. Or if allowed inside, speakout about the insanity of this man who is representing a deranged organization whose only purpose is to feed the gun industry. The Guns Over People Party gives the NRA much comfort.

[skeezix06]

Another person the NRA should have kept home and silenced. Given his recent statements, I don't consider Mr. LaPierre particularly sane.

[nearl451]

Yes. Frankly he seems a little Lanzaesque in his demeanor.

[testingtoo]

If people actually wanted to reduce events like Newtown (I use "reduce" because in a free society you will never have enough control to "eliminate"), they would address the true source of the problem in these cases - insane people with no medical supervision.

Once a psycho determines to do evil (and plans it thoroughly like every one of these recent mass killings), you can ban everything you can think of and it won't change a thing other than the lunatic's methodology - and probably not even that as (duh) he is a lunatic about to commit murder and doesn't care about law!

I know, doing something about the real problem is difficult while placing the blame on a gun (or a 30 round magazine or the NRA or whatever) is easy.
If you really care - address the real problem. Who knows what the next psycho will come up with.

[[e-mail]]

Well addressing mental illness would be great, but the very same party that wants no gun control and wants to put it all on mental health is the ones who want to limit and cut funding to mental health services. Services are delivered through agencies who hire employees but the ones receiving services have no health insurance, and many times no jobs so someone has to pay for this and currently the republicans are unwilling to do this. So no money for mental health and no gun control. In 2014 perhaps things will change with the new health care laws all going into effect. But again the anti gun control crowd wants to elliminate health care. It's like taking birth control away from the poor and then refusing to feed the resulting children. The right has turned into a mess with no direction and zero real solutions. They pander from side to side depending on what each crowd wants to hear.

[nearl451]

Which is most difficult to do? Develop a comprehensive mental health assessment and treatment system that keeps people who MAY snap off the street or (2) limit capacity of guns and ammo?

Your goofy argument is like suggesting to a smoker to avoid lung cancer by curing all cancer, not by stopping smoking.

[aintfakin]

Wayne "two inch barrel" La Pierre.
cracks me up that the NRA has a frenchie leader

[nearl451]

Goes along with Reins Preibus.

[nearl451]

Tightwad. Hada mental evaluation yourself lately.....because you are certainly delusional.

People in your mental state should be kept away from guns altogether.

[akvbme]

Golly gee Wally the ak-47 is Russian made.

[aintfakin]

made in china too, beve, along with a couple other places.
some gun nuts dont even know their own guns....kinda scary to trust them with public safety.

[crankyoleman]

Somewhere a village has lost its idiot.

[nearl451]

LaPierre is not an idiot, but a salesman forthe Gun Manufacturer's of America.

[coxt420]

Don't know why they are bothering with these two losers. Both of them are only concerned with the gun manufacturers and the money that lines their pockets.

[Anonymous738]

Both sides of the gun debate need to come together and work for public safety. Banning all guns would not work but we absolutely must ban the major assault guns like those used in mass shootings.

[nearl451]

Tight we get your drift. Now explain Aurora to me.

You are a salesman for the Gun Manufacturers of America jsut like Wayne. Don;t givea rip how many children die, just as long as you can sell more ammo.