NRA At CPAC: Media Turned Jared Loughner Into A Celebrity

[onehandle]

Source: Huffington Post



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 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).

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/10/nra-cpac-loughner_n_821542.html

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NRA and Conservatives.

Same audience. Same language. Same beliefs.

[Alexander]

1. I'm reminded of George Carlin talking about Wayne LaPierre

"Before Charlton Heston became President of these dickless lunatics in the NRA, they had a different guy. He's still one of their major spokesman, and his name is Wayne LaPierre. Doesn't that sound a bit fruity to you? "Hi, I'm Wayne, I'm a gun person. Bang bang!" You know what this guy's name ought to be? Biff Webster. Spud Crowley, a man's name! Chuck Steak!"

[hlthe2b]

2. I believe in civil liberties as many of our own believe in their guns

but I can't fathom supporting the teabaggers, even though some appear to oppose many aspects of the Patriot act that I too disagree with; yet our own "progressive" gun proponents seem totally supportive of NRA, despite the NRA's tactics against Dems and progressives. I just don't get that.

[Atypical Liberal]

27. Maybe this will help you get it.

In the last election here in Alabama, the NRA gave high marks to all of my Democratic candidates except one. Three of the Democratic candidates were the endorsed candidate by the NRA.

You can see my ballot in my sig.

[jody]

3. I don't agree with NRA ILA's political positions but why is anyone concerned about NRA's 4 million

members when there are perhaps 85 million voters who support the natural, inherent, inalienable/unalienable right to keep and bear arms for self defense?

A right as SCOTUS said is just like the 1st and 4th Amendment that pre-existed our Constitution and in no way depend upon it for legitimacy.

Why do people allow themselves to be provoked over divisive, polarizing political issues when corporatist finance campaigns from both sides of those issues?

If it's because corporatist are smarter and more devious than We the People then recent elections support their opinion.

[Kingofalldems]

4. The NRA should be banned from DU as a source for any info

[bossy22]

5. what a liberal idea

banning books, newspapers, news sources......

[baldguy]

16. Like WorldNetDaily, Freerepublic & Little Green Footballs?

The NRA exists to spread lies, much like their fellow travelers in the GOP. Unfortunately, too many who call themselves Democrats have been seduced by those lies.

[jody]

6. Please defend your opinion against 85+ million voters who support RKBA. Do you enjoy losing control

of the House, Senate, and even Presidency?

[Kingofalldems]

8. Head of the NRA made a blatantly false statement IMO

Makes them untrustworthy to me.

[jody]

9. "blatantly false statement IMO" is still an opinion. Please back it up with facts so I and other

pro-RKBA Dems can join you in denouncing that statement.

[Kingofalldems]

10. So you agree the media made a hero out of the shooter?

[jody]

11. If you are unable to support your "IMO" with facts, just say "NO" and accept defeat. n/t

[TheCowsCameHome]

13. Up from 70 million in just one week.

Impressive.

[Missy Vixen]

18. Please defend your "85 million" number

Here's a news flash. There are many who would say we've already lost control of the House, Senate and Presidency, considering the sheer numbers of people who are sick of their communities being used as a shooting gallery by the NRA and their lobbyists.

[X_Digger]

21. Gallup, NRA

http://www.gallup.com/poll/20098/gun-ownership-use-america.aspx

30% of americans personally own a firearm, 42% live in a household with at least one firearm.

If we assume 265M folks (>21), that's actually 80M personal owners, or 111M folks living in a household w/ a firearm.

The NRA actually has the estimate a bit lower at 70-80M - http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?ID=83

[Missy Vixen]

29. Oh, okay. That makes it all better.

Gallup has been debunked here before, and I don't give one ounce of credence to anything coming out of the NRA.

Gun owners are STILL a fraction of American citizens, less than one-third by your calculations.

We've done it your way for the past 234 years. It's not working. The Second Amendment was written in a time it took twenty minutes to load a musket. It's now possible to snuff out 32 lives in less than five minutes. The national misery caused by gun crimes must end.

[X_Digger]

30. Err.. there were guns with 20 round magazines at the time of the founding..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girandoni_Air_Rifle

It fired a .51 caliber ball at a velocity similar to that of a modern .45 ACP and it had a tubular, gravity-fed magazine with a capacity of 20 balls.

Designed in 1779.

Re Gallup, etc- what source do you provide that has the number or percentage lower?

[jody]

33. X_Digger why do you believe facts from we pro-RKBA types will change the anti-RKBA types who cling

to their blind faith that inanimate objects are inherently EVIL!

Lost people in other times built a Golden Calf so they could have a visible god to worship.

Fast forward some three millenniums and we have another lost group who have created the GUN so they can have a visible devil they can hate.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Only artificial gods and artificial devils change but, ignorance and intolerance continue forever.

[Paladin]

35. You Gun Enthusiasts Are The Ones Worshiping Visible Objects. (n/t)

[X_Digger]

36. I'm always open to new facts.

If Missy Vixen has a link to a survey that shows a different number of gun owners, or a different percentage of gun owning households, I'm all ears.

If it's more wharrgarble, like we often encounter? Yah, not so much.

I don't necessarily believe that it will change the mind of someone who is entrenched, but the very least I can do is illuminate some of the factually incorrect statements made, and provide credible sources for some of the contentions made.

It seems to me that there is a collection of 'common sense' surrounding those who are against private gun ownership (or at least those who want to severely restrict it). Much of that 'common sense' doesn't stand up to scrutiny when explored.

"Common Sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18." - Albert Einstein

[jody]

37. Illumination is an admirable goal but I've never seen a fire plug sprout blossoms after a visit from

a canine.

[HankyDubs]

20. All you really need to know...

"We continue to pray for and wish them well. But..."

Wishing them well...BUT!

[jody]

23. HankyDubs it doesn't matter whether you have a 30 or 10 round magazine, you only have blank ammo.

[Atypical Liberal]

28. Why? The NRA supports Democrats!

In the last election here in Alabama, the NRA gave high marks to all of my Democratic candidates except one. The NRA endorsed 3 of my Democratic candidates.

[alp227]

7. so OBVIOUSLY loughner didn't post those vids on youtube for attention

http://www.youtube.com/user/classitup10

[bongbong]

12. Here is what the NRA wants

"We, the NRA, want no reporting on gun use and mass murder in this country. The only thing we want you to report on is how wonderful guns are."

[jody]

15. Do you oppose the 65-75% of Democrats who support RKBA? Why don't you forget NRA and attack Obama

who said "I believe in the Second Amendment. I believe in people's lawful right to bear arms. I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take your rifle away. I won't take your handgun away."

[HankyDubs]

17. See how they dissemble?

No one is grabbing your precious guns. The gun control position is about making/enforcing laws regulating the purchase/transfer of certain weapons and associated items. Background checks, waiting periods, registration...not grabbing guns. It's not about repealing the 2nd amendment, it's about putting it in its proper context.

But see how then gungeon posters change the subject. Here is the NRA, supported by their dues, attending CPAC. Here is their fearless leader joining Dick Cheney, Donald Trump and white nationalist organizations at CPAC. This is the same NRA that supports right wing candidates through the NRA-ILA. And before some gungeoneer starts handing me this crap about NRA dues not going to the NRA-ILA, remember that money is fungible. If they had fewer dues they would have to finance their push-polling and various other nefarious activites through private donations and would have less left over to donate to Christine O'Donnell.

[jody]

22. "how they dissemble?" when bongbong wrote "We, the NRA" in #12, a blatant false statement. You

ignore Obama's statement which I quoted.

Score so far:

bongbong one false quote

Jody one true quote by Obama

HankyDubs ad hominem flailing

[bongbong]

25. 2nd Amendment?

The 2nd Amendment has nothing to do with laissez-faire ownership of guns. It is about state militias.

Where is your evidence about the 65-75 percent figure?

[jody]

34. Please read DC v Heller so you will be able to make informed statements rather that parrot false

rumors. For a start you can acknowledge that SCOTUS says:

c. Meaning of the Operative Clause. Putting all of these textual elements together, we find that they guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation. This meaning is strongly confirmed by the historical background of the Second Amendment. We look to this because it has always been widely understood that the Second Amendment, like the First and Fourth Amendments, codified a pre-existing right. The very text of the Second Amendment implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the right and declares only that it “shall not be infringed.” As we said in United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U. S. 542, 553 (1876), “his is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence. The Second amendment declares that it shall not be infringed.

You might not like that, in fact it might make you mad as hell, but that's the way things are so get used to living in a nation that acknowledges government is obligated to protect natural, inherent, inalienable/unalienable rights whether enumerated or unenumerated in our Constitution.

[bongbong]

38. Heller?

Heller is from, basically, the same activist repig judges that selected cheney's errand-boy to be president. They ignored dozens of precedents. Here, I'll try to educate you in the way the Constitution was meant by the founders. You may not like it, but facts are facts.

First: http://hnn.us/articles/36395.html

This is about Parker, not Heller, but many of the same points are applicable. An excerpt: "In its 58 page ruling, the two-member Parker majority contradicts nearly fifty other federal court rulings spanning seven decades, as well as four Supreme Court rulings, all of which support the straightforward proposition that the right to bear arms exists only in connection with citizen militia service."

Secondly, Thom Hartmann educates gun-lovers about what the 2nd Amendment means: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILKiAr5Xtgg

Hopefully you understand the Constitution better now. Have a nice day!

[jody]

39. Get used to Heller, it's the law of the land. You sound like those still mad that the Dred Scott

case was overturned.

[bongbong]

40. So you're an authoritarian

At least I know where you're coming from. You agree with activist repig judges overturning decades of precedent, and you disagree with the Founding Fathers. Alrighty then!

[TheCowsCameHome]

14. He even looks like Jimmy Swaggart.

[Paladin]

19. Go To Hell, LaPierre.

You and your organization are the prime movers for making it as easy as possible for "deranged killers" and "Monsters" to get their hands on firearms in this country. Bloodbaths like the one in Tucson are the sort of things that trash like you consider to be a fair trade-off for the open circulation of just as many guns as possible. Stomach-turning.....

[LanternWaste]

24. What a craven opportunist...

What a craven opportunist. No that I'm surprised at all by these actions, though-- the endorsement record of the NRA speaks volumes...

[gratuitous]

26. But, but, but, it's all about the NRA!

Oh sure, some people got killed and others were maimed, and that one poor woman got shot in the head. But don't you see how it's the NRA, Wayne LaPierre and gun owners who are the real victims in all this? Because if you don't, you're nothing but a gun-grabbing, blank-shooting, hata. Prolly a communist, too, but that insult doesn't carry quite as much freight as it used to. Which is another way that the NRA is a victim.

[LanternWaste]

31. Martyrdom is sexy.

Low-grade self-martyrdom is politically sexy as long as it looks like it wasn't done on purpose.

Although I'm not inherently cynical, experience and observation has taught me to always assume the worst about the NRA's political motives.

[WhoIsNumberNone]

32. The media made Jared Loughner a hero? LMFAO!

As far as I could see the media universally reviled Loughner. You know who they made a hero out of? Daniel Hernandez. And deservedly so. This ass clown and the NRA want the media to shut up about Loughner because running stories about him casts lax gun laws in a bad light. And don't think the NRA isn't making some hay (Green hay) out of that, either. Just the other day I heard an ad on the radio for a gun show coming to town: "Get 'em while you still can" they said (not paraphrasing).

[MisterP]

41. why's there a picture of Gary Cole from Office Space at the top of the post? nt