NRA At CPAC: Media Turned Jared Loughner Into A Celebrity

WASHINGTON -- National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre on Thursday sharply condemned both the media and lawmakers for their response to the Tucson shootings, accusing them of glorifying the shooter and legislative overreach, respectively.

The longtime NRA header, who helps command a four million member organization, said that the press made a "celebrity" out of Jared Loughner the accused shooter of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and 19 others.

"We continue to pray for [the victims] and wish them well. But the national media wasted no time in making a celebrity out of the deranged killer. His photo was all over the place, that monster," he said. "It turns a bad man into a hero for every potential deranged copy cat out there. It is sick, it is wrong and the media ought to be ashamed of themselves."

LaPierre had been relatively quiet as the political world renewed the debate over the boundaries of gun-rights following the Tucson shoots. But his annual address to the Conservative Political Action Conference forum provided him with both a widely watched stage and a sympathetic audience. His speech, filled with cutting critiques about political elites, the press, and illegal immigrants, was filled with harrowing anecdotes, 9-1-1 audio and video footage (even from Egypt).

Applause was polite throughout, but only loud when he called on Congress to allow all law-abiding Americans to have the right to carry a firearm for their own protection.

"The media and the political elites want us to believe that if we just pass another law or two we can stop a madman bent on violence," said LaPierre. "If we could have legislated evil out of peoples' hearts we would have done it long ago."

Comments

[me again]

10:15 PM on 03/09/2011

LAX laws turned Loughner into a media story and created death and dismemberment. Who is this guy kidding?

[helioszephyr]

04:35 PM on 02/24/2011

Argument to support arming the masses are based on the flawed premise that, if obtained legally, the gun owner will always remain sane and have the capacity to keep his rage and discretion in check.

As stats show, by a vast majority, most gunshots injuries and deaths occur between people who have some connection... whether family or friend disputes, hunting accidents, gang violence against opposing gangs or as in Gifford's case, a targeted assault.

Rarely is it a case of self defense from a home intruding stranger.

Because one purchases a weapon legally today, with background checks and other security measures, does not assure us that the next day the gun owner will be judicious while in a fit of anger or rage... never mind a year or 2 later.

As for the 2nd Amendment... one has to be quite obtuse to not consider the situation and intent at the time it was written... then try to spin it into "home protection" 200 years later. And if you think your firearm will fend off the state militia... surely you jest.

[truthinesshurts]

12:55 PM on 02/21/2011

People with a criminal record are also more likely to die as homicide victims Between 1990 and 1994, 75% of all homicide victims age 21 and younger in the city of Boston had a prior criminal record. I think we should provide all criminals with high powered hand guns with large capacity clips. Let them kill each other. I'm sure the NRA would go along with this.

[truthinesshurts]

12:43 PM on 02/21/2011

The NRA is the problem not the solution. Wayne LaPierre is a True Enemy of America, TEA.

[Barton449]

03:55 PM on 02/16/2011

Why is impossible for liberals to see that gun laws don't apply to the OUTLAWS
they think the gun laws will stop?

[pat k]

09:29 PM on 02/16/2011

Do you have a better argument than what you have presented? Of course laws will not stop the lawless. Answer this: why does anyone outside of law enforcement need a 30 shot clip in their Glock? Tell me why YOU need a 30 shot clip in a pistol. One good reason.

I have nothing against guns. I just think we need to use some common sense.

[JimInHouston]

11:31 PM on 02/16/2011

"Tell me why YOU need a 30 shot clip in a pistol. One good reason."

Adequate round for "come as you are" home defense.

But still, NEED is irrelevant...it's the Bill of RIghts, not the Bill of Needs.

[Jebclark]

03:10 PM on 02/18/2011

these weapons a extremely important to ensure that we can never be occupied by foreign troops and home defence or illegal actions of the Administration of Comrade Obama

[pat k]

09:34 PM on 02/16/2011

The cops had to go to the Sporting Goods store to get better weapons.
Gun laws don't apply to OUTLAWS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-cMIVNntHs

[LawrenceRoth]

12:13 PM on 02/21/2011

I'll have to disagree. Gun control laws came about in the early 1900s, because of outlaws getting easier access to guns more powerful than the police had. My history is fuzzy, but I believe it was during the era of Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd that law enforcement became considered with guns that outlaws were getting a hold of.

[pat k]

09:44 PM on 02/15/2011

When was the last time we, the citizenry, needed to use firearms to protect ourselves from tyranny?

My thought was always to just drop the NRA leadership off in an inner city somewhere, and see if they change their minds as they walk home.

[pat k]

10:01 PM on 02/15/2011

Let me append this by saying I think the NRA has deviated greatly from its original intent; I blame this on the vast amount of money involved with firearms and the NRA in general.

[Barton449]

03:53 PM on 02/16/2011

Drop you as a white guy I assume off in East St. Louis WITHOUT a .45 would be a death sentence.
Somehow, I think you got your analogies screwed up as much as your politics.

[Snow Duchess]

07:29 PM on 03/09/2011

More fear propaganda.... Really? Forget your silly .45 I'm keeping my 10 Ga.

[peterz]

07:40 PM on 02/15/2011

Has our country turned into a tug of war between the sane and insane? What is it with these mad dog NRA people?

[LawrenceRoth]

12:14 PM on 02/21/2011

"Has our country turned into a tug of war between the sane and insane?"

Yes.

[wa-st-concerned]

03:22 PM on 02/15/2011

....and the NRA makes EVERY gun owner into a "patriot" and "sane".......more lies/misinformation.....

[Barton449]

03:54 PM on 02/16/2011

Every legal gun owner.

[ShawnRay]

08:16 AM on 02/15/2011

HP Great spin. You should be proud of yourselves. Did you guys know that Congresswoman Giffords is a 2nd amendment supporter and voted down the DC gun ban?

[enlightened45]

01:15 PM on 02/15/2011

Any update on her support after her horrific wounding by Loughner after his legal purchase of a firearm? Life-changing acts do sometimes affect a person's opinions.....

[Darlie Brewster]

10:51 AM on 02/14/2011

He continued "My job is to get as much weaponry into the hands of our least stable citizens as possible but I see no contradiction in that as I worry about their victims"-Wayne LaPierre

Jesus.

[DodieG]

09:38 AM on 02/14/2011

"celebrity"? What a bad choice. If his goal was to shake up the gun lovers with that word, Mr. LaP needs to take a smart pill every day.

[joedaplumper]

10:33 PM on 02/13/2011

Yes, we continue to "pray for the victims" of our idols. How hollow is that???

[mike102]

05:43 AM on 02/17/2011

About as hollow as your head, if that's what you really believe.

[KeepingItRealII]

10:26 PM on 02/13/2011

You can always tell an enemy of the country when they resort to name calling.

[LDnearthesea]

08:32 PM on 02/13/2011

Celebrity? Really? I still haven't gotten any news source about what his parents' political views were, if any. I still haven't gotten any news about why this man visited web sites that were right-wing, like American Renaissance! We have heard really nothing about Loughner! What celebrity?

[GlamMom]

03:47 PM on 02/16/2011

He was NOT right....apolitical leaning left. He supported legalization of drugs, flag burning..the name of one of his bands was Anti-Flag, thought the constitutions laws were "treasonous", read communist lit, supported Kerry against Bush ... not exactly right wing values.

[truthinesshurts]

12:47 PM on 02/21/2011

It doesn't matter what his politics or beliefs were. He was CRAZY.

[DaveMB]

05:58 PM on 02/13/2011

I would like to see Wayne LaPierre make the argument that the banning of high capacity clips did not save any lives. Anyone who takes him seriously must have an incredible capacity for self deception. While I respect a law abiding citizen's right to defend himself, I feel contempt for people like LaPierre who only spread misinformation and paranoia.

[Thirdpower]

06:42 PM on 02/13/2011

Since they've never been banned where does your claim come from?

[Helloise]

09:04 PM on 02/13/2011

You're right, it was the weapons themselves that were banned that made a dent in crime stats. No weapons, no need for clips; now we're reduced to pleading for smaller clips so crazy people would have to take a moment to reload before shooting an extra dozen by standers.

[DaveMB]

09:43 PM on 02/13/2011

"During the period in which the AWB was in effect, it was illegal to manufacture any firearm that met the law's definition of an "assault weapon" or "large capacity ammunition feeding device", except for export or for sale to a government or law enforcement agency." wikipedia.

Thanks to people like Wayne LaPierre people like JLL have easier access to clips with 30+ bullets. Before AWB expired JLL would most likely only be able to fire 10 bullets before reloading. Here is Wayne LaPierre lying about the AWB at CPAC 2009 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1193317 He states "The Clinton gun ban accomplished exactly what we predicted, nothing!" He says that at about 9:05.

The fact is JLL is to blame for the first 10 bullets people like Wayne LaPierre are to blame for the remaining 20. I feel contempt for the man because he cannot make a case without lying. I respect someone who makes a case by telling the truth, even if I disagree. I believe that a healthy debate is the hallmark of a healthy democracy. Those who lie however, pollute the fountain of knowledge and are deserving of contempt.

[Dimensio]

07:09 PM on 02/13/2011

What is a "high capacity clip", and upon what occasion were such items "banned"?

[Jim Pasterczyk]

03:11 AM on 02/16/2011

Objection; argumentative and questioner is already well-aware of what was banned in the Brady Bill, it's a matter of public record.