Wayne LaPierre is a radical right-wing extremist who is a lobbyist for gun advocates as CEO of the National Rifle Association. Hearing him speak today helped this independent journalist refine the debate and issues confronting America as he attacked the enemies of the NRA as if the NRA represented all citizens and it does not.
The NRA has 5,000,000 members and claims to have 9,000,000 non-member supporters for an audience of 14,000,000 or 4% of the nation's population.
He claims:
"Our American freedoms could be lost, and our country will be changed forever," he said. "And the first to go will be the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution."The Second Amendment remains on the books as part of the US Constitution that guarantees citizens the right to bear arms. Here is the problem, the Second Amendment is obsolete and needs amending.
At the time it was enacted, Britain and other foreign nations threatened America. The standing army and navy weren't strong enough to defend the country without supplemental force from citizens. America was a frontier, and people were armed because 1) there was insufficient police and military protection in unsettled territory, 2) there were predator animals, and 3) pioneers were at war with Native Americans.
As the nation matured in our democratic republic, local police protected citizens in municipalities. State militias ( National Guard Units) supplement the military. State police protect the interstate highways. Federal law enforcement protects its jurisdiction.
The government forces at every level are an extension of We the People. They are our "guns."
What about guns for self-protection? There may be remote and rural places where citizens might need guns for protection. That is by exception.
What about guns for sports hunting? Guns can be held in armories and signed out by licenses and qualified persons for hunting, where they are returned promptly when finished.
The notion of gun ownership is simply an obsolete and dangerous situation.
People like Wayne LaPierre who fear that the alternative to gun ownership is socialism are unenlightened at a minimum. They are declaring war on the alternative more peaceful nation.
If they want to support law and order, back the police and rid the nation of guns. That begins by amending the Second Amendment to bring it into focus with contemporary needs and circumstances.
The biggest threat to the nation are lobbyists like the NRA.
Born: Wayne Robert LaPierre, Jr.
November 8, 1949 (age 68)
Schenectady, New York, US
Alma mater Siena College
Boston College
Occupation: CEO and Executive Vice President of the NRA
Hometown: Roanoke, Virginia US
Salary: $5,051,249 (2015)
"NRA chief cites ‘failures’ in school security, mental health system after Parkland shooting
By HALIMAH ABDULLAH CHEYENNE HASLETT Feb 22, 2018, 11:34 AM ET
National Rifle Association vice president and CEO Wayne LaPierre took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday just over a week after a deadly mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida galvanized a national conversation on gun policy reform.
In a highly anticipated speech, he made the case that there is room for the gun lobby and gun control advocates to find common ground.
"The NRA does care," he told the gathering at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.
In a speech to a pro-Trump and pro-gun rights crowd, LaPierre defended the Second Amendment against what he called "new European socialists" looking to seize control of Congress.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/nra-president-wayne-lapierre-addresses-conservative-conference-wake/story?id=53274513
NRA's Big Mouth, Wayne Robert LaPierre, Jr.
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