NRA's Wayne LaPierre: "Government Policies Are Getting us Killed"

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

WASHINGTON -- National Rifle Association president Wayne LaPierre harshly criticized gun control advocates, the Obama administration and members of the media at the Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday, arguing that they are lying when they say bans on certain firearms or ammunition clips will protect Americans.

LaPierre said U.S. gun laws provide more protection to killers like the Virginia Tech and Tucson shooters than to the victims of their attacks, and suggested the current environment puts women at risk for rape. He condemned "gun-free zones and anti-self defense laws that protected the safety of no one except the killers and condemned the victims to death without so much as a prayer."

"Government policies are getting us killed," he said.

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LaPierre added that while the Tuscon attacks were "terrible," "it's time for some frank talk."

The media and "political elites," he said, "won't admit the truth." He said it's "dishonest" to suggest that by passing laws we can "legislate evil out of people's hearts."

In the wake of the Tucson tragedy, some commentators and members of Congress have called for stricter gun laws. The proposal with the best chance for passage is one that would ban the sort-of high capacity ammunition clips used by the alleged Tucson shooter, which can hold 33 rounds in a single clip.

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"These clowns want to ban magazines," LaPierre said. "Are you kidding me? But that's their response to the blizzard of violence and mayhem affecting our nation. One more gun law on top of all of the laws already on the books."

"It's going to make all of us less safe in this country, and you know what else it's going to do? Make the deranged and the violence more safe," he said. He added that even in the current environment, "as soon as you leave these halls, your life is in jeopardy."

LaPierre said that the situation in Egypt shows that the Second Amendment remains necessary, as illustrated by the protests in Egypt. He said that "the presence of a firearm" in the hands of good people "makes us all safer."

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"Good guys carrying guns can and do make a difference," he said, adding that "the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." LaPierre argued that everyone is safer when bad people "can't tell the difference between the lions and the lambs."

The NRA president said that violence in Mexico illustrates the folly of flawed gun laws, stating that conference attendees are "likely to be beaten, tortured and murdered" if they go there.

He also called for laws in the United States "that give all law-abiding Americans the right to carry a firearm for personal protection."

LaPierre opened his speech by playing a speech by former NRA president Charlton Heston in which Heston criticized the media for portraying the NRA as a villain. Heston, in the video, called media coverage of tragedies "pornography."

LaPierre then criticized the media for showing images of the Tucson shooter and not focusing more on the victims of his attack, stating, "the national media wasted no time in making a celebrity out of the deranged killer."

The media "turns a madman into a hero for every potential deranged copycat out there," he said. "It's sick, it's wrong and the media out to be ashamed of themselves."

Toward the end of the speech, LaPierre played a graphic 911 call of a woman being attacked in her home. He said she is "who we are fighting for."

"No more lies and laws and government failure," LaPierre told the audience of conservative activists. "At the scene of the crime, there's only the criminal and the victim."

The speech received a standing ovation.

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Brian Montopoli is a senior political reporter for CBSNews.com. You can read more of his posts here.

[texan_74]

ok. I see that due to the increment of crime rates, it is a good idea to have a gun at home to defend your family. My question is... Do we need assault riffles to defend our home? I ask this, because I just heard about the flow of assault riffles to Mexico. I am very disappointed at the way this is handle. This guys can care less about innocent people dying, they make so much money sellling this riffles to drug cartels. The thing is that if it doesnt affect us, we dont care! I personally experienced a shoot out in Monterrey Mexico, there were about 5 kids with AK-47's figthing the Mexican Army. But who cares right? while we make money out of it and it doesnt happen here.

[Shelld7260]

Just want to say "hi all"..New to this but after reading article I would like to just add. This is crap! I am an American born 39 yr old woman who is married with kids and grandkids. I am a firm believer on our government being our 1st biggest enemy and 2nd would like to say that I am in favor of an American citizen carrying/owning/having any kind of legal gun!! My husband and I personally own several and I would not change a thing.
GUNS/KNIVES/PENCILS/PENS/PAPER Et c.. Do NOT kill or hurt people..People have to control these or ANY type of weapon of choice to succeed the crime.
I am not going to rant and rave, I will make a long story short, I will not repeat here what has already been said.
As long as you have humans, you will have ANY sort of bad happening. Want to get away from it??????
Easy theroy..

As soon as ALL males and females turn 18, we THOROUGHLY test them; Mentally, physically, et c.. If they do not meet "commen sense" living, if they test out to favor rapists, murderers, psychos what have yous...Spay and Neuter so that the seed cannot be passed on and just make the duration of their stay nice. EASY!!

[matdawgi]

dinkydog1 "Here's that link you hate!" http://www.usacarry.com/arizona_concealed_carry_permit_information.html

[matdawgi]

While dinkydog1 is void of all reality and sits with his/her head covered sobbing Bette Midler songs scrunched up in the corner... now just imagine if ten responsible armed citizens holding Arizona carry permits had been wrapped around the scene of the Tuscon shooting incident. Three of them attending IDPA annually. Two of them NRA instructors. It would have saved peoples lives...despite the resentment of the media and dinkydog1 who would resent being rescued by a armed...fellow citizen and forever be unable to repair their self esteem as a result!"

[matdawgi]

dinkydog1 is a perfect example of the breed of American who rebels against authority. Like a teenager that won't turn down their music and aspires to sit around at Woodstock or a child that touches the stove burner after dad says Noooo! and then cries about it. This is the person that sits at a traffic accident and waits for paramedics while the driver in front is pinned in a burning car. dinkydog1 is neither a Nationally Registered Paramedic or licensed for concealed carry. Further profiling places this person in front of a TV watching Ellen, Icarly, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Sex In The City, and As The World Turns worrying about their self esteem while someone else intubates and defibrillates the victim under a guard rail at two in the morning!" While dinkydog1 is void of all reality and sits with his/her head covered sobbing Bette Midler songs scrunched up in the corner... now just imagine if ten responsible armed citizens holding Arizona carry permits had been wrapped around the scene of the Tuscon shooting incident. Three of them attending IDPA annually. Two of them NRA instructors. It would have saved peoples lives...despite the resentment of the media and dinkydog1 who would resent being rescued by a armed...fellow citizen and forever be unable to repair their self esteem as a result!"

[matdawgi]

dinkydog1 is a perfect example of the irresponsible breed of American that rebels against authority. Like a child that touches the stove after Dad says Noooo! and then cries afterwards. Like a teenager that won't turn their music down and aspires to be a Woodstock participant. Both the child and teenager won't posses, carry, or be licensed to carry a firearm. This is the person who sits at a traffic accident while the driver in front is pinned in a burning car and waits for paramedics to arrive. dinkydog1 is neither a Nationally Registered Paramedic...or licensed to carry a concealed firearm. Further profiling would place him or her in front of a TV watching Ellen, Icarly, Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, Sex In the City, or As the World Turns worrying about their self esteem while someone else intubates and defibrillates the victim under a guard rail at two in the morning."

[JAQUEBAUER]

To all the gun haters and believers that the government and police will always come to your aid at any time, any place, and any circumstance and protect you from assault and deadly injury. You can live with your belief, thats fine, but don't restrict me from buying the guns I need to protect my self and family. I have the same rights as you, but I do not believe as you do that the government will be there to protect me. In fact, government will tell you after you called 911 and report a home invasion at your home that they are sorry they took 20 minutes to get there, and they are not responsible for your husband getting shot. I think most cops would tell you to purchase a gun, take a gun safety course, and train yourself to use it.
We shall all die, but it is the unarmed, naive and wishful that are more likely to die at the hands of a criminal. The educated person that chooses armed intervention has increased his chance of survival by 100 %. Which person would rather be ?

[NunyaEffinBizness]

What happened to personal responsibility in this country? People are so used to the government saving them that they can not even imagine any circumstance where they might have to take care of themselves. If you spill a cup of coffee on yourself take the bastards who gave you what you asked for to court so a government judge can baby you. If you take on a debt that you know you can't afford (an ARM with a huge balloon payment) go cry to the government to help you when it comes due. Have a child and don't want to support her, that's okay, the government will do that for you. Don't feel like getting a job to pay your bills, that's okay, call the government to give you a check you don't deserve. If a criminal is breaking into your house at 3 in the morning don't do anything to stop him yourself, call the government to help. Someone attacking your kids on the street? Just sit back and call dial-a-prayer (911), sooner or later the government will send someone to help.

Our founding fathers, and most of our countrymen up until about WWII believed in liberty, freedom and personal responsibility. Maybe it was Roosevelt's New Deal, maybe it was the pampering the Baby Boomer's got from the Greatest Generation, maybe it is the flouride in our water system, but somewhere along the way as a nation we left those ideals behind and became a country that can not do anything for themselves. Gun control is one way this unhealthy pathos is showing itself, but it is not the only way. This change of heart as a people is why America is falling behind the rest of the world in so many different areas. Maybe, just maybe, if we actually remembered what Kennedy said during his inaguaration ("And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country") we could get back to the ideals that made our country great. The first step each individual can take is start accepting personal responsibility for their actions, their decisions, their life situation and their safety. The government should be there as a backup and as a last resort, not as the first, last and only player in the game.

[matdawgi]

jimbom121 is...yep...someone who can't pickup a gun with out shooting somebody! Get the Bette Midler CD out Jimbo! You certaintly won't be shooting IDPA...or saving their ass under a guard rail at two in the morning with a larygoscope! But why should you have to? Someone else will do it for you. Go back to your movie and re-run of Desperate Housewives!"

[jimbom121]

He's partially right. Government policies have gotten more people killed. Here are some:

-2004 allowing the assault weapons ban to expire, despite almost 100% of city mayors wanting it continued
-Here's another one...allowing weapons in National Parks...since hunting is not allowed in these parks...not sure why guns are needed.
-Here's a good one--allowing concealed weapons in bars...because we know how well guns and alcohol mix.
-The FBI wanted to track gun purchases to make sure people on the terrorist watch list, but the NRA nixed that
-There are proposals to allow concealed weapons into schools...that's a great idea, so more kids can get shot. Sorry, it would not have stopped Columbine.

[cmoney79]

Jim"Here's another one...allowing weapons in National Parks...since hunting is not allowed in these parks...not sure why guns are needed."jimbom
Gee I dont know Being attack by a bear a rattle snake at your feet about to strike, Cougars. Maybe and attacker or robber that thinks that people there would be easy targets since they have no locked doors and no phone and no one can hear them scream and best of all it is illegal for them to have a firearm.

[NunyaEffinBizness]

jim, I heard a lot of people predicting doom and gloom about allowing guns in National Parks, but as of yet I haven't heard of their being any problems, can you show me an instance where a person legally carrying a firearm caused a problem? Our National Parks are huge, remote swaths of land with little or no cell phone coverage and extremely low law enforcement presence. So, if you do see a life threatening situation, either with wildlife or with criminals (and large scale marijuana growing operations are a major problem, and the growers do have guns to protect their operations) you most likely have no means of calling the police, and even if you were able to get a call out the response time could easily be more than an hour. I know why you are sitting in your front room in a city where the police response time is only 8-10 minutes (a long time if your life is in danger) you can't grasp this, but just because you can't imagine it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

I agree that people should not mix alcohol and firearms, but I know I can walk into a place that serves alcohol and not drink, I do it on a regular basis. I could support restrictions on carrying a firearm while under the influence of mind altering substances, but not on carrying just because of the location you are in. If you think I am wrong about this then make sure you fight just as hard to ban parking lots at bars as you do firearms, if you are not allowed to drink and drive why do you need a place to park your car?

The terrorist watch list is a very scary thing. Anyone can get you put on it, you will not be informed you are on it unless you try to do something it restricts (get on an airplane), and then, even if you can prove you are on it by mistake their is no defined way to get your name removed. I do not support taking away anyone's rights based on something so non-transparent, shadowed in secrecy and full of errors as this watchlist.

I would also argue against your total ban of firearms on school campuses based on the history of school shootings. Nobody was armed at Columbine except for the shooters, 13 dead. At Santana High School in Santee, CA there was someone legally carrying a firearm on campus (an off duty deputy dropping his child off), two dead. At Virginia Tech there were no legally armed citizens on campus, 33 people were killed. At Appalachian Law School another shooter was going on a rampage, but two students retrieved their guns from their vehicles and stopped him, 3 dead. At Pearl High School in Mississippi the Vice Principal, who had his gun with him, stopped the shooter. The death toll, 2 students. The shooter had slit his mothers throat before he went to school, so there were a total of 3 deaths. People with an agenda against guns say how come you never here about people using guns to stop crimes, there are two answers to this question. First, the crimes are usually stopped before there is any reason to put it on national news. You see, when armed citizens draw their weapons to stop a crime there is a very good chance the would be criminal is stopped before anyone is killed or even hurt. Secondly, far too many members of the media have a bias against guns so they try to sweep the fact that an armed citizen actually saved lives.

As an American you have the right to free speech, and I spent 23 years in the military supporting that right. All I ask is before you use that right please do your research. In 1986 only 9 states allowed citizens who met minimum requirements ("shall issue" concealed carry laws) to legally carry firearms, American had 240 million citizens and there were over 20,000 murders. In 2009, the last full year statistics were available, 38 states had "shall issue" laws, there were 307 million citizens and only 15,000. It is hard to argue that armed citizens carrying weapons is a problem when there is that big of a drop in the murder rate when so many more people are able to defend themselves.

[dinkydog1]

It's pathetic how many cowards are so wraped up in thier fear and low self esteem that they have to carry a gun. What ding dongs dont realize is by weakining gun controll laws so much that mental patients and criminals can easily get guns, they made the world a more dangerous place for everyone just because thier too da#n lazy or ignorant to fill out a few forms.

NRA = Lazy, low self esteem, easily frightened.

[cmoney79]

Where do you think criminals get guns now? They get them off the street from the same guy that sells them drugs. Drugs are completely illegal and OMG they are the easy thing to get you dont need ID you dont need to be of age all you need is some cash.

dinkydog1=libtard,baby killing, Socialist go watch your CNBC so they can brain wash you some more

[dinkydog1]

Yea, yea, and you NRA dingies have resisted even the most basic regulations. If it wern't for the folks you call "libruls" you wouldn't even have common sense stuff like background checks.