NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre said Thursday that more Americans are buying guns because the country is in trouble, ripping “political dishonesty and media dishonesty” that he said were undercutting the U.S. Constitution and his own organization.
Mr. LaPierre said in an address at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that people in the country are worried about health care and education for their children, and living on a decent retirement.
“It’s why more Americans are buying firearms, not to cause trouble, but because that America is already in trouble,” he said. “When government corrupts the truth and breaks faith with [the] American people, the entire fabric of our society is in jeopardy.”
Mr. LaPierre said the NRA’s 5 million members and gun owners “will not back down — not now, not ever.”
He also took a series of crowd-pleasing shots at the mainstream media, which he said were biased against conservatives and gun owners.
“One of America’s greatest threats is a national news media that fails to provide a level playing field for the truth,” he said. “Now it’s all entertainment ratings, personal celebrity, the next sensational story, and the deliberate spinning and purposeful use of words and language, truth be damned, to advance their agenda.”
He added, “Rather than expose government dishonesty and scandal like they used to, the media elites whitewash it all.”
He concluded his speech, delivered to a packed auditorium, with a call to arms ahead of the fall midterm elections.
“Mark my words — the NRA will not go quietly into the night — we will fight, I promise you that,” he said. “With millions and millions of Americans just like you from all over this country that are going to come together.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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