The CEO of National Rifle Association Wayne LaPierre addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference today and reiterated calls to introduce greater security to the nation’s schools in the wake of the deadly school shooting that killed seventeen at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, last week. LaPierre argued that that hardening must come in the form of increased armed security in the nation’s school districts.
“In every community in America, school districts, PTA’s, teachers’ unions, local law enforcement, moms, dads, they all must come together to implement the very best strategy to harden their schools, including effective, trained, armed security, that would absolutely protect every innocent child in this country,” LaPierre said.
LaPierre asked school districts in America to contact the NRA, if they are interested in exploring ways to better secure their schools and their students, through the group’s School Shield Program, a program that educates schools on best practices in security personnel, training and policy, among other things.
“Any American school that needs immediate, professional consultation and help with organizing and defining these solutions should call the National Rifle Association’s school shield program. And we will provide immediate assistance, and we will also provide it absolutely free to any school in America,” LaPierre said.
The White House has been under pressure to support measures that would decrease gun-availability, especially of high-powered assault rifles like the AR-15, the gun used in the Parkland, FL, shooting.
President Trump has, in recent days, announced support for the banning of certain accessories that increase the firepower of these rifles, and for a bill currently working its way through Congress that would shore up the country’s background check system. It is clear at this point which of these measures the NRA supports, if any.
LaPierre used his address to warn the conference’s attendees to raise questions over the true motives of the both the mainstream media and prominent members of Democratic Party, including Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Keith Ellison and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
The elites don’t care, not one whit,” he said, “about America’s school system, and school children. If they truly cared, what they would do is protect them. For them, it’s not a safety issue, it’s a political issue.”
“Their goal is to eliminate the second amendment, and our firearms freedoms, so they can eradicate all individual freedoms,” he added.