NRA exec: White House gun bid doesn’t work

Honest U.S. gun owners are not responsible for killings by “deranged criminals,” a top gun-rights backer said in remarks to be read to a Senate panel Wednesday.

Rather than limiting gun owners’ rights in the hope of lessening gun violence, Congress should improve the nation’s mental health system, enforce existing laws and beef up the number of armed guards in U.S. schools, National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said in prepared remarks released ahead of his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

LaPierre was to be among five scheduled witnesses at the 10 a.m. hearing titled, “What Should America Do About Gun Violence?”

Among the others testifying was retired U.S. Navy Capt. Mark Kelly of Americans for Responsible Solutions, an independent group he founded with his wife, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., to advocate for stricter gun laws.

Giffords was a victim of a mass shooting near Tucson Jan. 8, 2011. Eighteen others were shot and six of them died. The shooting occurred during a constituent meeting held in a supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes.

Others to testify before the Senate panel included constitutional law Professor David Kopel of Denver University’s Strum College of Law; Baltimore County Police Chief James Johnson, chairman of the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence, and attorney Gayle Trotter, a senior fellow of the Independent Women’s Forum.

LaPierre was to urge senators to “be honest about what works — and what doesn’t work” in easing gun violence, his testimony released by the NRA indicated.

He was to say most of the White House-backed proposals earlier this month would not work.

“Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals,” LaPierre’s remarks said. “Nor do we believe the government should dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families.”

LaPierre was expected to say efforts to tighten background checks or ban assault weapons “have failed in the past and will fail in the future.” They will “only serve to burden the law-abiding,” his remarks said.

“Let’s be honest — background checks will never be ‘universal’ because criminals will never submit to them.”

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Category: National