NRA: Gun bans at schools create dangerous places
Bullet-proofing kids
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: NRA Executive Director Wayne LaPierre says NRA horrified at school shooting
- NEW: But he says that policies banning weapons at schools create risks
- The Obama administration has started debate on gun control
- More funerals of the victims will take place Friday
Wayne LaPierre spoke to
reporters in an appearance that was interrupted twice by protesters
shouting anti-NRA slogans and bearing banners in front of his podium,
including one that said, "NRA killing our kids."
The nation's most
prominent gun rights lobby joins "the nation in horror, outrage and
earnest prayer for the families" who "suffered such an incomprehensible
loss" in Newtown, Connecticut, LaPierre said.
However, he said, schools
remain a target by criminal gunmen because they are not protected by
armed security the way other important institutions are.
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Policies banning guns at
schools create a place that "insane killers" consider "the safest place
to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk," LaPierre said.
Such policies leave schoolchildren "utterly defenseless, and the monsters and the predators of the world know it," he said.
Friday's event was billed as a news conference, but LaPierre only read a statement; he took no questions.
Funerals: A community says goodbye
One week ago, a gunman
forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School and shot 20 students,
six adults then himself dead in Newtown.
Adam Lanza had killed his mother before arriving at the school.
Across the nation Friday morning, church bells rang in remembrance of the victims. The NRA was among those groups that observed a moment of silence at 9:30 a.m., the same time as last week's massacre.
NRA power and money go a long way in states
Despite the relative
silence early on from the powerful lobbying group's offices in Fairfax,
Virginia, the NRA is regrouping in anticipation of a massive legislative
push for gun control legislation, a gun policy expert said.
Kristin Goss, an
associate professor of public policy and political science at Duke
University and author of "Disarmed: The Missing Movement for Gun Control
in America," said that strategy is part of the organization's playbook
after an incident such as this one.
After such a terrifying event, when there is a national outcry, the NRA typically lays low, Goss said.
"They're used to seeing this cycle, express condolences and hope the attention will shift to a new issue."
Obama starts gun control debate
This week, the Obama administration put into motion an effort to change U.S. gun laws.
Vice President Joe Biden
met with Cabinet members and law enforcement leaders at the White House
to start formulating what Obama called "real reforms right now."
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More than 195,000 people have signed an online White House petition supporting new gun control legislation.
A slight majority of
Americans favor major restrictions on guns: 52%, up five points from a
survey taken in August after the July shooting inside a movie theater in
Aurora, Colorado, where 12 people died, according to a CNN/ORC
International poll released Wednesday.
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Biden will lead a White
House effort to craft proposals aimed at preventing another tragedy such
as the Newtown shootings. The recommendations are due sometime in
January.
That same month, several
lawmakers have promised to introduce or reintroduce gun control
legislation, ranging from a reinstatement of a federal ban on assault
weapons to banning the sale of high-capacity magazines.
Since the shootings, a
number of conservative Democrats and some Republicans who have supported
gun rights have said they are open to discussing the issue.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein,
D-California, said she will introduce legislation to reinstate the
assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. The White House has said that
the president supports that effort.
House Democratic Leader
Nancy Pelosi took her own step towards reform Wednesday by announcing a
new task force on preventing gun violence.
Pelosi said the task
force will work towards restoring the assault weapons ban, strengthening
the background check system, and addressing mental health and violence
issues.
The NRA, with its
roughly 4.3 million members, is the standard-bearer for protecting the
Second Amendment. It is also the source of hefty campaign donations.
During the 2012 election
cycle, the NRA donated $719,596 to candidates. Republicans received
$634,146 of that, according to the Center for Responsive Politics'
analysis of federal campaign data.
Some $85,450 went to Democrats, many of them in states that are considered more conservative when it comes to gun control laws.
Gun owners fear new legislation could tread on their rights
Tributes ongoing for victims
Carloads of teenagers
from a Minnesota school that suffered a mass shooting in 2005 headed
toward Newtown on Thursday to offer their support.
Also Thursday, burials were held for three children and two teachers.
More than 2,200 miles west of Newtown, Ogden, Utah, the hometown of shooting victim Emilie Parker, was festooned with pink ribbons as her parents brought her body back for burial.
"This sucks -- there's
no reason for us to be here tonight," her father, Robbie Parker, told
friends and well-wishers at a memorial service Thursday night. "And I'm
so thankful for everybody that's here."
His voice trailed off as
he struggled for composure. Seeing the pink -- his slain daughter's
favorite color -- made him and his wife, Alissa, "feel like we were
getting a big hug from everybody."
Also buried Thursday, at an undisclosed location, was Nancy Lanza,
the shooter's mother, whom he killed before the school rampage, said
Donald Briggs, a friend of the family who grew up with her in Kingston,
New Hampshire.
Plans had not been finalized for the burial of the gunman, her son, Adam.
Three 6-year-olds were
among those buried Thursday: Allison Wyatt, who loved to draw and wanted
to be an artist; Benjamin Wheeler, who loved the Beatles; and
red-haired Catherine Hubbard, who loved animals.
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