Salon.com > Wayne LaPierre

NRA is getting a new president

Thu, 02 May 2013 22:21:00 +0000

David Keene will be replaced by Alabama attorney Jim Porter as president of the NRA, once Keene's two-year term officially ends at this weekend's NRA convention in Houston.

CNN reports:

While Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre is widely known as the face of the NRA, Keene had an active role in publicity and media appearances, especially in the wake of the Newtown elementary school massacre that left 26 people dead.

Porter has been serving as the NRA's first vice president, and before that he served as the group's second vice president. The presidency, an unpaid position, is the next stop in the NRA's leadership rotation.

Voters not taking failed gun control legislation lightly

Wed, 01 May 2013 16:20:00 +0000

The backlash against Senators from both parties who voted on April 17 against an expanded background check law for gun buyers is growing, despite knee-jerk comments from mainstream media that gun control proponents lack the fervor and commitment of the NRA and its allies.

The first sign that some of the 54 senators who voted against the background check bill were in trouble came from New Hampshire, where first-term Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s approval rating fell to 44 percent, a 15 percent drop from a survey last fall by Public Policy Polling. New Hampshire newspapers slammed her vote, with the Concord Monitor calling it “utter nonsense” and an “abomination.”

Big money arms the NRA

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

In the days leading up to last month’s crucial votes on the most significant gun control legislation to come before the Senate in nearly two decades, polls showed that about 90 percent of Americans supported background checks for all gun purchases. But when the clerk called the roll, the centerpiece amendment — requiring background checks for firearm sales at gun shows, through classified ads and on the Internet — got just 54 “yea’s,” six votes short of the 60 vote super-majority required.

Just four months after Adam Lanza killed 26 people at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and President Obama promised tougher gun laws, the vote proved to be the latest in a long-running string of victories for gun rights activists, the firearms industry and particularly the National Rifle Association, the nation’s pre-eminent gun lobby.

Anheuser-Busch heir resigns life-long NRA membership

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 02:07:00 +0000

The great-grandson of the Anheuser-Busch company renounced his membership in the National Rifle Association on Thursday, furious that the NRA helped defeat the Senate bill which would have expanded background checks in response to the tragedy in Newtown.

Adolphus Busch IV, in a letter to NRA president David Keene obtained by a St. Louis television station, wrote that "I fail to see how the NRA can disregard the overwhelming will of its members who see background checks as reasonable."

He said that the NRA seems to have become a lobby for gun and ammunition manufacturers, rather than one for hunters and gun owners.

"One only has to ask why the NRA reversed its original position on background checks. Was it not the NRA position to support background checks when Mr. (Wayne) LaPierre himself stated in 1999 that NRA saw checks as 'reasonable'?"

The education of Joe Manchin

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:19:00 +0000

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin had an A rating from the NRA, winning the endorsement of its PAC for his staunch defense of gun rights (and opposition to even sensible gun regulations). He made national headlines during his 2010 campaign with an ad that featured him shooting a copy of a cap and trade bill with a rifle, proving with one unforgettable image that he loved guns and hated energy regulation.

So it was big news when he decided to hook up with Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey on compromise gun control legislation expanding background checks and closing the so-called gun-show loophole. When Manchin announced that he was working on such measures, the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent said it represented “real movement in the right direction” and might even “give cover to all of the other red state Democrats who are skittish about embracing this common sense step.” Sargent was also encouraged that the NRA darling said he was discussing the measures with the NRA.

Best of the Salon limerick contest

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 15:00:00 +0000

The best limericks submitted by Salon readers since the election:

So we’ve come to this point, as a nation,

Where a white man with money and station,

Is no longer a shoe-in,

So the Right Wing’s now stewin’:

“’Tis the End of Civilization!”

Bruce F. Cole

Kamuela, Hawaii

From Delaware hails our VP,

A fiscal cliff jumper is he.

He'll work on your pecs,

Offer old ladies sex,

Won't someone please put this guy on TV?

Josh Klemons

Madison, Wis.

Where’s Obama’s diversity minder–

His “qualified female” staff finder?

He’s named white guys galore,

To positions top-drawer,

Perhaps he should borrow Mitt’s binder.

Madeleine Begun Kane

Bayside, Queens

Did we have an assault weapons binge?

Just the thought should make all of us cringe.

Can we trust NRA,

To be honest when they,

Are the voice of a lunatic fringe?

Stephen Whitred

Barriere, B.C., Canada

In a tale of pro cycling woe,

Doping brought down a mighty hero.

But one detail I find,

Really frazzles my mind,

Who knew Oprah still had her own show?

Tom Foltz

Fort Wayne, Ind.

Although your new limerick contest is thrillin',

My brain appears not to be willin'

When every new verse

Than the last one is worse.

How the NRA got what it wanted

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

It’s hard to remember now, but in the immediate aftermath of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Conn., this country seemed serious about gun safety reform. President Obama visited the community and tearfully invoked Scripture and vowed real action. Hunting enthusiast and senator Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) suggested he’d consider supporting an assault weapons ban. And National Rifle Association foe Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) called the organization “enablers of mass murderers” and vowed to wage war on it -- and few rushed to its defense.

Then, somehow, things seemed to get even worse for the NRA. After a full week of silence after the tragedy, it held a press conference in Washington, D.C., in which its leader, Wayne LaPierre, inspired laughter and ridicule by supporting zero reforms to guns, aside from a call for more of them (arm teachers!).

Michelle Obama’s underrated role in gun debate

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:25:00 +0000

Much has been made of the prominence of men like President Obama, Michael Bloomberg and Wayne LaPierre in the nation's current debate on gun safety reform. But less attention has been placed on the singular and transformational role of Michelle Obama.

The first lady elevated the conversation Wednesday, during a rare return to her hometown of Chicago. In a city ravaged by violence, with more than 500 gun-related homicides last year alone, she spoke eloquently -- and apolitically -- transcending the partisan politics that seem to subvert her husband's efforts for reasonable gun control legislation.

But what was most unique was for whom, and to whom, Michelle spoke. Her words gave voice to an oft ignored (but disproportionately affected) victim of America's gun violence: the black mother.

The first lady spoke of Hadiya Pendleton, the slain 15-year-old student, gunned down just blocks from the Obama's Chicago home -- and only days after Pendleton had attended the president's second inauguration. With tears in her eyes, Michelle said, "Hadiya Pendleton was me and I was her." The first lady went on to add that Pendleton's family is "just like" her own.

Sunday show round-up: North Korea, the gun debate

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 17:30:00 +0000

North Korea:

Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation: Sunday, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., expressed concerns about the U.S. escalating tensions with North Korea into an unwanted war. "More than once wars have started by accident and this is a very serious situation,” said McCain. The senator commented that were a full blown conflict to take place, the U.S. is well-positioned to defeat North Korean attacks, but that the collateral damage in South Korea would be catastrophic. "South Korea would win, we would win, if there was an all-out conflict, but the fact is North Korea could set Seoul on fire and that would obviously be a catastrophe of enormous proportions," he said.

During an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," senior Obama adviser Dan Pfeiffer said that "the onus is on North Korea to take the step back."

Meanwhile Former Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman called Kim Jong Un "a crazy man." Hunstman did stress, however, that the heightened tensions with North Korea provided a rare opening for the U.S. to work with China toward a common goal: "This is a huge opening, believe me, with China, because our interests, for the first time in a long while, are aligned. We both want to get something done and bring the level of tension down on the Korean peninsula," he said.

16 of the NRA’s frightening police-state “solutions” for our schools

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

The NRA doesn’t just want to put armed teachers, armed guards and volunteer vigilantes in schools to prevent more school shootings. It wants to turn schools into veritable prisons, where security staff patrol and lockdown schools, and indentify and spy on problem students and employees, according to an NRA-sponsored report that included model legislation to allow such measures.

The National Federation of Teachers and well-known civil rights advocates slammed the report, issued by former GOP congressman and Department of Homeland Security official Asa Hutchinson. They said militarizing schools with more guns was not the answer to gun violence. Nor was putting more police into schools, particularly in communities of color. That only increases hostilities for students, not safe learning environments.

NRA to roll out guns-in-schools proposals

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:50:00 +0000

On Tuesday, the NRA will reportedly roll out proposals for how to prevent gun violence, including placing armed guards in schools.

CNN reports:

The NRA is expected to give Congress legislative proposals in the Tuesday report.

Law enforcement officials will find training recommendations to prepare the armed guards who the organization believes should be available to schools.

State and local officials will find guidelines on how to alter their ordinances to permit the armed guards.

The report will include both proposed legislation and resources for how to prevent future gun violence, according to CNN.

Have we forgotten Newtown already? Why are we letting the NRA win

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:12:00 +0000

Like many of my friends and neighbors, I was shocked to learn that the NRA had been indiscriminately canvassing Newtown residents with pro-gun robo calls and post cards this past week. It was a chilling indication of the organization’s complete indifference to the events in Sandy Hook and a stinging reminder of their unfailing ability to erase the horrors of gun violence from the conscience of our legislature before a decisive vote on gun control.

Nearly 15 weeks have passed since the shooting in Newtown. I spent the morning of Friday, December 14 feverishly collecting scant pieces of information about an incident in my hometown. As the details emerged, I did my best to shun the lurid images rushing to my mind. A massacre that could rival the most gruesome spectacle in any modern war had somehow unfolded in the elementary school I had attended as a child. I imagined the terror and anguish that must have gripped every parent with a child at Sandy Hook, then thought of the innumerable family members whose lives would never be the same after that day. It was the most sadistic act of madness imaginable visited upon the most innocent place I could think of.

NRA robocalls upset Newtown parents

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:19:00 +0000

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — Some residents in Newtown, Conn., say they're outraged at receiving robocalls from the National Rifle Association only three months after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.

Town residents say the automated calls from the NRA began last week and urge people to tell their state legislators to oppose gun control proposals. Lawmakers are debating whether to ban military-style assault weapons, prohibit high-capacity ammunition magazines and other measures in response to the school shootings.

Dan O'Donnell lives in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown and told WVIT-TV that the robocalls are "ridiculous and insensitive."

Messages seeking comment were left with the NRA, which like other nonprofit groups is allowed to make robocalls under federal law.

Sunday Show round-up: Bloomberg vs. LaPierre

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:57:00 +0000

This week's Sunday shows put New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Wayne LaPierre, the CEO of the National Rife Association, on opposite sides of the gun control debate. Here are the highlights:

On gun control:

Michael Bloomberg, who launched a $12 million ad blitz to push for gun control, promised that Congress would have a vote on an assault weapons ban. “We've been fighting since 2007 to get a vote. We are going to have a vote for sure on assault weapons and we're going to have a vote on background checks,” he said on "Meet the Press." Bloomberg added: “If we were to get background checks only, it wouldn't be as good as if we got both, but look, we demanded a plan and then we demanded a vote. We've got the plan, we're going to get the vote."

Wayne LaPierre later slammed Bloomberg's effort. "He can't spend enough of of his $27 billion to try to impose his will on the American public," LaPierre said on "Meet the Press." He added that Bloomberg is "so reckless in terms of his comments on this whole gun issue."

CPAC’s 10 craziest moments

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:02:00 +0000

At the Conservative Political Action Conference, the large annual gathering of right-wing activists and followers, people say a lot of crazy things -- too many, in fact, for me to cram into a single story. So I’ve picked a random 10 -- random insofar as they were among those I came across both in my own time at this enormous conference in Oxon Hill, Md., at the Gaylord National Harbor Convention Center just outside of Washington, D.C., and in reading the work of my fellow journalists and muckrakers. The conference took place March 14 - 16.

Presented, in no particular order, are 10 statements worthy, at least, of an eyeroll.

1. Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana: Torture is funny. A featured speaker on CPAC's main stage, Jindal chose to make light this way of the barrage of political rhetoric CPAC attendees signed up to subject themselves to:

If the choice was to hear 70 political speeches or to gowaterboarding, well, I’d have to think about that.

At CPAC, Wayne LaPierre tackles rape

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:51:00 +0000

In his speech at CPAC, NRA chief Wayne LaPierre argued that "the one thing a violent rapist deserves to face is a good woman with a gun."

LaPierre was speaking about a comment Joe Biden had made, that he tells his wife, Jill Biden, that if there's ever a threat, "just walk out on the balcony, put that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house.”

"The vice president of the United States actually told women facing an attack to just empty a shotgun into the air. Honestly, have they just lost their minds over at the White House?" LaPierre asked.

"Some in the Colorado Legislature think women are too emotional to deal with a violent attack," he continued, pointing to a Democratic state legislator in Colorado who argued that "you're better off using a ballpoint pen to stab an attacker when he stops to reload," according to LaPierre.

He was referring to state Sen. Jessie Ulibarri, who, during Colorado's debate over gun control, talked about the Gabrielle Giffords shooting and another shooting in a supermarket in Arizona; in both cases the shooter was taken down by unarmed people when he stopped to reload. "So there are other ways to address violence, and it doesn't mean that we have our kids exposed to a whole crossfire of multiple folks in a room shooting simultaneously," Ulibarri said, adding: "Congressman Giffords' life was saved, and so many others, when very valiant folks stood up to defend themselves and protect themselves and they did it with ballpoint pens."

Wayne LaPierre: Still paranoid

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 18:50:00 +0000

Shortly after cautioning the world about looting Brooklynites, the NRA's chief executive Wayne LaPierre issued another ominous warning about the Obama administration's push to implement universal background checks. "Don't you be fooled - there is nothing universal and nothing reasonable about it," LaPierre told the 2013 Western Hunting and Conservation Expo in Utah.

"This so-called universal background check… is aimed at one thing," LaPierre said. "It's aimed at registering your guns. And when another tragic opportunity presents itself, that registry will be used to confiscate your guns.

"This is not universal background checks, this is universal registration of all of your firearms," he added.

Wayne LaPierre is very afraid

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:33:00 +0000

It must be terrifying to be Wayne LaPierre, the man who has led the NRA for the past two decades. For years he has shared his nightmares and fears of daily living with us -- a worldview of paralyzing paranoia, where terrorists, bad weather and Latin American gangsters lurk behind every corner, ready to prey on unarmed citizens.

“Latin American drug gangs have invaded every city of significant size in the United States. Phoenix is already one of the kidnapping capitals of the world," he explains in his latest expression of anguish, an Op-Ed published in the Daily Caller yesterday. "And though the states on the U.S./Mexico border may be the first places in the nation to suffer from cartel violence, by no means are they the last.”

“Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Riots. Terrorists. Gangs. Lone criminals," he continues. "These are perils we are sure to face -- not just maybe. It’s not paranoia to buy a gun. It’s survival."

While the world has always been an impossibly forbidding place, LaPierre continues, our socialist president has made it it worse, naturally: “When the next terrorist attack comes, the Obama administration won’t accept responsibility. Instead, it will do what it does every time: blame a scapegoat and count on Obama’s 'mainstream' media enablers to go along.”

Is the NRA’s message backfiring?

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 20:17:00 +0000

Last month, I noted the extent to which the National Rifle Association was digging a hole for itself by hewing to the most extreme rhetoric in its arsenal. Rather than quietly agree to sensible reforms — like an assault weapons ban and universal background checks — the NRA has taken a maximalist position on gun control, pushing the view that safety requires a gun in every home and a holster on every belt.

True to form, this approach has backfired in the court of public opinion, as ordinary Americans — who otherwise support the Second Amendment — recoil from the extreme rhetoric of the NRA and its supporters. To wit, the latest national survey from Public Policy Polling shows that the organization has lost cachet with a good number of Americans. Thirty-nine percent say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate with the NRA’s endorsement, compared to 26 percent who say they would be more likely. Among independents, 41 percent consider the NRA’s endorsement a negative, while 27 percent say it’s a plus.

Obama’s gutsy gun control push

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 12:45:00 +0000

Second-term Barack Obama continues to show us he’s wiser and tougher than the guy who took office four years ago. The latest sign is his stance on his gun control agenda. In Minneapolis on Monday, he laid out everything he intends to push for, not merely pushing criminal background checks and tougher penalties for gun trafficking, but also the part of his plan that will be the heaviest lifting: an assault weapons ban.

This is what many liberals have hoped to see since his earliest political battles in 2009, going all the way back to the initial stimulus skirmishes: a president who tells the American people what he thinks will solve our problems, and who fights for those solutions, who demands congressional votes even on the most controversial agenda items – and who may, down the road, be forced to compromise on some of those priorities, only to fight for them another day.