In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the National Rifle Association held a news conference in Washington, D.C. and blamed the media and video games for cultivating a culture of violence.
By Tracy Connor
Gun-control advocates responded with outrage and disbelief Friday after the National Rifle Association called for armed guards in every school and blamed the music, movies and video games for firearms violence.
While some people in Newtown, Conn., said they supported the idea of police with guns in their schools, critics said the NRA failed to deliver on its promise of "meaningful contributions" to the debate over how to prevent more school massacres.
"The head of the NRA blamed everyone in sight - except his own organization - for gun violence in America, and showed himself to be completely out of touch by ignoring the proliferation of weapons of war on our streets," Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said in a statement.
The slaughter at Sandy Hook Elementary School has prompted some gun-rights advocates to soften their position, and there was speculation that the NRA might put forth some type of concession.
But NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre -- who will appear Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" -- did not indicate the group would support new restrictions.
Defiant NRA leader rejects gun controls, asks to put police in schools
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,'' he said, calling for a program of armed volunteers to protect schools from "the next Adam Lanza."
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said he was at a loss for words after hearing the proposal.
"I don?t even know where to begin," he said on MSNBC. "As a supporter of the Second Amendment and a supporter of the NRA ? even though I?m not a member of the NRA ? I just found it very haunting and very disturbing that our country now is talking about arming our teachers and our principals in classrooms."
MSNBC's Thomas Roberts talks to a political power panel which includes former RNC chairman Michael Steele to get their reactions to the NRA news conference on gun control.
Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., said he was stunned by LaPierre's comments.
"It is beyond belief that following the Newtown tragedy, the National Rifle Association's leaders want to fill our communities with guns and arm more Americans," he said in a statement.
"The NRA points the finger of blame everywhere and anywhere it can, but they cannot escape the devastating effects of their reckless comments and irresponsible lobbying tactics. ?The NRA leadership is wildly out of touch with its own members, responsible gun owners, and the American public who want to close dangerous loopholes and enact common-sense gun safety reform."
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the press conference "a shameful evasion" of the gun crisis devoid of soul-searching.
"They offered a paranoid, dystopian vision of a more dangerous and violent America where everyone is armed and no place is safe," he said.
In Newtown, opinion was divided.
"I think that's a great idea," Elaine Bartell said of LaPierre's armed-guard proposal. "I would feel much safer and children would be protected."
Mary Fernandes, a mother, was unimpressed with the NRA's idea.
"I think it's sad that it's come to this state. We need do something about the gun control and I don't think that [armed guards] is the answer," she said. "I don't believe people need guns in their homes."
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence instantly reacted to the NRA statement on Twitter, asking for donations to support its efforts to ban assault weapons and limit the number of guns that can be bought at one time.
"To all?#NRA?members who believe like we do, that we are better than this, we send this message? Join us," tweeted the group, which was formed after Jim Brady was shot with President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Businessman Mark Cuban, who owns a movie distribution company and a chain of cinemas, wrote this on his verified Twitter account: "I think the NRA press conference is what the Mayans had in mind when they said the world would come to an end today."
Robert Farago, publisher of a popular blog called TheTruthAboutGuns.com, said LaPierre did "a good job putting forth a positive solution to the problem of spree killing in schools."
He said he was disappointed, however, that LaPierre did not explicitly say that the NRA would fight any proposed assault-weapons ban. And he thought LaPierre's criticism of video games and movies was off-target.
"I think the effect of the culture isn't the determining effect in an attack like this," Farago said.
Dave Workman, senior editor of The Gun Mag, a publication owned by the Second Amendment Foundation, said the NRA news conference ?just ramps up the attention to gun-free zones.?
?We?ve had shootings in shopping malls, movie theaters, schools, colleges ? all gun-free zones ? so maybe it?s time to take a look at that,? Workman said.
?The prevailing wisdom with a lot of the gun owners is -- it?s about time we started talking about something other than banning guns.?
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