NRA Goes On Offense In Wake Of Florida Shooting

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. ― The National Rifle Association usually maintains a large presence at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual political confab that draws thousands of conservative activists from across the country.

Some speculated, though, that the nation’s most powerful gun lobby would lower its visibility at this year’s CPAC, which began Thursday, given that a gunman armed with an assault-style rifle murdered 17 people last week at a high school in Parkland, Florida.

Whenever a mass shooting occurs, for example, the NRA goes quiet. And no officials from the gun lobby appeared on a publicly released schedule of CPAC speakers online ― a curious omission for an organization that pays for top billing at the gathering.

But after NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch was jeered by thousands of people over gun control at a CNN-sponsored town hall on Wednesday in Florida, she and the top NRA official not only appeared at CPAC Thursday, but they went on the attack ― blasting Democrats, the media, and the FBI over its failure to act on tips that may have stopped the shooter in Parkland.

“Each and every member of the National Rifle Association mourns the loss of the innocent,” NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre said in a speech that was carried live by all three major cable news channels. But he quickly added that “opportunists wasted not one second to exploit tragedy for political gain.”

LaPierre warned that growing calls from students for stricter gun laws would lead to a European-style “socialist wave” that would strip law-abiding citizens of their firearms.

Referring to politicians who back stricter gun laws, he said, “They hide behind labels like Democrat, left-wing, and progressive to make their socialist agenda more palatable, and that is terrifying.”

Source: huffingtonpost