Is LaPierre going soft?
by digby
The NRA's malevolent leader was on Face the Nation and reiterated his usual claptrap about guns being beside the point whenever we have a mass shooting ad backed the ridiculous Cornyn bill which would require the police to present a full-blown trial in three days if they wanted to stop a possible terrorist from buying a semi-automatic killing machine. But he did say something I don't think I've ever heard him say before. I may have missed it but this seems new:
Trying to fight terrorism with gun control legislation is like “trying to stop a freight train with a piece of Kleenex,” LaPierre said, arguing that terrorists in California and Paris used firearms to kills dozens of people in places with strict gun laws. He called for armed security in vulnerable targets like malls, churches and schools but stopped short of suggesting that people in bars and nightclubs, like the one where 49 people were shot in Orlando, should be carrying guns
“I don’t think we should have firearms where people are drinking," he told Dickerson.
I didn't think the NRA believed guns were inappropriate anywhere. In fact, he's the one popularized the fatuous bumper sticker, "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." I didn't think it mattered whether the bad guys and the good guys are boozing.
In the past the NRA has helped with legislation in various states to allow guns in bars. I don't know if they have decided not to do it anymore. But it's the wording that makes me think something may have changed. In the past, they have simply said that if you carry a gun into abar you should not drink alcohol. In that statement, LaPierre said he didn't think there should be firearms where people are drinking. That's not the same thing.
It's hard to believe we're even talking about this. Carrying guns in bars is completely daft, needless to say. And LaPierre may have just been speaking off the cuff and the NRA's position hasn't really changed. But he's usually pretty careful with his words so it's at least possible. It's not much but maybe the pressure is starting to make them budge a little bit.
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