NRA chief accuses Democrats of exploiting Florida shooting for anti-gun agenda
- 6 years ago
Now for a look at stories making headlines around the world and we start in the U.S.
The country's largest gun lobby has launched a furious defense of weapons ownership as demands for stricter controls mount after last week's school shooting in Florida.
For more on this and other international news we turn to Ro Aram…
Aram…. Run us through what one of the heads of the National Rifle Association had to say….
Well Semin…. NRA chief Wayne LaPierre told a conservative conference Thursday that Democratic elites were pushing what he called a "socialist" agenda to deprive gun owners of their weapons.
He mentioned a few of them by name and said they were taking away gun owners' right to bear arms as stated in the second amendment.
"They hate the NRA. They hate the 2nd Amendment. They hate individual freedom..... The elites don't care not one wit about America's school system and schoolchildren. If they truly cared, what they would do is they would protect them. For them, it's not a safety issue, it's a political issue."
He also echoed President Trump's call to arm teachers to prevent school shootings.
He portrayed the NRA as the true protector of the country's schoolchildren and offered free training to those who want to bear arms to protect schools.
In general, his speech contained language the NRA uses every time there is controversy over gun ownership and that is it takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun.
LaPierre's comments came just a day after survivors of the Parkland shooting faced lawmakers in a CNN debate and also President Trump at the White House.
The NRA is a politically influential lobby group that endorsed Trump for president in 2016 and has close ties to conservative Republicans.
Meanwhile, the governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island have teamed up to fight gun violence because they said the federal government isn't.
They announced plans to create "States for Gun Safety" - a group of state law enforcement officials who will share intelligence, study gun violence and form a task force to intercept illegal guns.
The country's largest gun lobby has launched a furious defense of weapons ownership as demands for stricter controls mount after last week's school shooting in Florida.
For more on this and other international news we turn to Ro Aram…
Aram…. Run us through what one of the heads of the National Rifle Association had to say….
Well Semin…. NRA chief Wayne LaPierre told a conservative conference Thursday that Democratic elites were pushing what he called a "socialist" agenda to deprive gun owners of their weapons.
He mentioned a few of them by name and said they were taking away gun owners' right to bear arms as stated in the second amendment.
"They hate the NRA. They hate the 2nd Amendment. They hate individual freedom..... The elites don't care not one wit about America's school system and schoolchildren. If they truly cared, what they would do is they would protect them. For them, it's not a safety issue, it's a political issue."
He also echoed President Trump's call to arm teachers to prevent school shootings.
He portrayed the NRA as the true protector of the country's schoolchildren and offered free training to those who want to bear arms to protect schools.
In general, his speech contained language the NRA uses every time there is controversy over gun ownership and that is it takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun.
LaPierre's comments came just a day after survivors of the Parkland shooting faced lawmakers in a CNN debate and also President Trump at the White House.
The NRA is a politically influential lobby group that endorsed Trump for president in 2016 and has close ties to conservative Republicans.
Meanwhile, the governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island have teamed up to fight gun violence because they said the federal government isn't.
They announced plans to create "States for Gun Safety" - a group of state law enforcement officials who will share intelligence, study gun violence and form a task force to intercept illegal guns.