Kevin Freking, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The National Rifle Association on Sunday forcefully stuck to its call for placing armed police officers and security guards in every school as the best way to avoid shootings such as the recent massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the nation’s largest gun rights lobbying organization, said the NRA would push Congress to put a police officer in every school and would coordinate a national effort to put former military and police offers in schools as volunteer guards.
The NRA’s response to the Newtown shooting has been panned on several fronts since the group broke its weeklong silence on Friday about the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., called it “the most revolting, tone deaf statement I’ve ever seen.” A headline from the New York Post summarized LaPierre’s initial presentation before reporters in Washington with the headline: “Gun Nut! NRA loon in bizarre rant over Newtown.”
“If it’s crazy to call for putting police and armed security in our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy,” LaPierre told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “I think the American people think it’s crazy not to do it. It’s the one thing that would keep people safe.”
LaPierre also contended that any new efforts by Congress to regulate guns or ammunition would not prevent mass shootings. His fresh comments reinforced the position that the NRA took on Friday.
(Read the full story at Chron.com)
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