The National Rifle Association (NRA) amplified its calls for armed guards in every school when its executive vice president testified at a Senate hearing Wednesday on gun violence.
The NRA's Wayne LaPierre told lawmakers that lax enforcement of existing laws, combined with holes in the mental health system — not lenient gun laws — have led to the rash of mass shootings that have plagued the country in recent years.
“It’s time to throw an immediate blanket of security around our children,” LaPierre told lawmakers as he promoted a new NRA program — dubbed the School Shield Program — designed to train armed guards at every school in the country. The group has tapped former Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) to lead the initiative.
“While we’re ready to participate in a meaningful effort to solve these pressing problems, we must respectfully — but honestly and firmly — disagree with some members of this committee, many in the media, and all of the gun control groups on what will keep our kids and our streets safe,” LaPierre told the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to prepared remarks released by the gun lobbying group Tuesday.
“Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals. Nor do we believe the government should dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families,” LaPierre said.
The hearing is a direct response to last month's shooting massacre in Newtown, Conn., where a lone gunman with an assault rifle and high-capacity ammunition magazines stormed into an elementary school and killed 26 people, 20 of them young children.
For more on LaPierre's comments, click here.
This story was posted on Tuesday at 2:10 p.m. and last updated Wednesday 12:43 p.m.
