(CNN) - Continuing his charge against the Obama administration on gun control proposals, Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association is scheduled to respond to the president's State of the Union while speaking Thursday at the annual convention for the National Wild Turkey Federation in Nashville.
The speech comes one day after LaPierre issued a rally-cry for gun owners, writing in an op-ed that "good Americans are prudently getting ready to protect themselves" against what he described as an onslaught of doom.
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"Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Riots. Terrorists. Gangs. Lone criminals. These are perils we are sure to face-not just maybe. It's not paranoia to buy a gun. It's survival," the NRA's executive vice president wrote in the op-ed published Wednesday by the conservative news website, The Daily Caller.
"It's responsible behavior," he continued. "And it's time we encourage law-abiding Americans to do just that."
LaPierre has been a leading yet controversial voice against gun control proposals as Washington grapples with a flood of firearm legislation in the wake of the Connecticut elementary school shooting. President Obama also renewed his plea for Congress to vote on tougher gun laws during his State of the Union address earlier this week.
"Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress. If you want to vote no, that's your choice. But these proposals deserve a vote," Obama said. "Because in the two months since Newtown, more than a thousand birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun."
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LaPierre wrote that defenders of gun rights are more fired up than ever to purchase firearms-not because they fear conflict with the government, as some have argued, but because they "anticipate confrontations where the government isn't there."
As examples, he cited stories of looting after Superstorm Sandy, claimed terrorists would infiltrate through the U.S. southern border and warned of a lack of funds to pay for police protection should Obama's fiscal policies result in economic disaster.
"No wonder Americans are buying guns in record numbers right now, while they still can and before their choice about which firearm is right for their family is taken away forever," he wrote.
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White House Senior Adviser David Plouffe responded to the op-ed, writing on Twitter Wednesday that it's "hard to believe this is real. Every GOPer should read and decide if this delusional person will call the shots."
LaPierre further laid out a four-year plan for a "resistance movement" that entails fighting legal battles against gun law legislation, boosting NRA membership, and strengthening the organization financially. Deep into his op-ed, he called for donations-"$20, $50, $250, or $1,000 at a time-and dedicated several paragraphs to reasons why the group needed more members.
"An even stronger NRA is the only chance gun owners have to withstand the coming siege," he wrote, saying the group is launching a "full-court initiative" to recruit more "lover(s) of freedom." The group already one of the largest advocacy organizations, with four million members.
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"This begins with remembering to keep your own membership active, or reactivate it if it has lapsed," he continued. "It means reminding yourself, 'I have a son and daughter who aren't members and should be'."
LaPierre also blamed the media, certain lawmakers and high-profile figures, such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, for making Americans "feel guilty about buying a gun."
"The enemies of freedom demonize gun buyers and portray us as social lepers," he added.
Concluding his op-ed, LaPierre vowed that NRA members "will not surrender."
"We will not appease. We will buy more guns than ever. We will use them for sport and lawful self-defense more than ever. We will grow the NRA more than ever. And we will be prouder than ever to be freedom-loving NRA patriots," he wrote. "We will Stand and Fight."
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All you need to read to realize how crazy these people are, is to read the language of war he's using. Sieges, defense, fighting. He's trying to whip his membership in to a fervor to fight a war. Of course, when one of these gun nuts snaps and kills a bunch of people "in the name of gun freedom", the NRA will deny they had anything to do with it. Sort of like Palin and her targets on Gabby Giffords head. Yeah, that had NOTHING to do with Laughner snapping. Nothing at all.
These people are insane. The idea of common sense gun ownership left them a long time ago. The sad part is, LaPierre probably doesn't even believe half this crap...but he has to keep his gun industry corporate masters happy. Notice the whole piece is basically a huge advertisement to get you to go buy a gun. Coincidence? Hardly.
Wayne Lapierre has been with the NRA about twenty years. During that time 200,000+ Americans have lost their lives due to firearms. Give him a few more years and he may pass Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, etc......
AHHH! A ternader! Get my gun! I'll take care of it!
maybe he should suggest people send that money to hire more police – rather than to support the NRA. Then we would have more well trained officers to protect us, rather than some paranoid gun nuts wanting to try out their biggest guns.
I'll confess that I would enjoy seeing Wayne try to fight a tornado. I hope he gets real close – so he doesn't miss- they can move pretty fast.
Thanks for the article, CNN. I just signed up for the first time with the NRA. I plan on being a life time member.
Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Riots. Terrorists. Gangs. Lone criminals. These are perils we are sure to face-not just maybe. It's not paranoia to buy a gun. It's survival
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This guy is nuts or very paranoid.
Of course we will fight. My questions to the leftest rebels.
What exactly have I done wrong that I cannot own an AR-15 or 30 round magazines??????
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Counter question. What are you and LaPierre planning on doing that requires owning them????????
All Americans are reasonable people. We all want the same things – a better future for us and our families. There is no person in the world I have met that I have not found common ground with. However, politicians of today, both red and blue, would rather impose their "formula" for the American Dream than let Americans decide. The NRA leadership, with its list of "enemies" which includes many law-abiding citizens, accomplished dignitaries, philanthropists, charity organizations, among others, is cornering itself and establishing its brand as an extreme organization that is out of touch with the American dream. Furthermore, its deceitful and fear-mongering campaigns are testimony to its venom. We all want a safer nation. I have had friends who have been killed by gun violence. If a liberty enjoyed by a few creates a discontent for the larger population, then that liberty must be taken away. The NRA is leaving the American people with no option but to consider a constitutional amendment.
Ho ho ho - this could be the best thing for America.
Executing about 100,000 gun freaks would clean up our country. I would guess these freaks own upward of 20 guns apiece, so think about how much safer our great nation would be.
I fully encourage the NRA to go the way of their member Officer Dornan – many of us would enjoy torching NRA members.
"The zombie apocalypse is nigh! Step right up! Buy your guns & ammo now!"
This is what happens when you have spicy food, cheap malt liquor and stay up late watching a Mad Max marathon.
We need Tina Turner in the Thunderdome......
@Linsey Walker
It amazes me how leftists attack the NRA and guns in general for violent acts. Yet they won't admit that violent acts are committed by violent people and try to figure out the reason. If leftists would just attack the violence in movies and entertainment the same way maybe some of these deranged people wouldn't have something to emulate in their violent acts.
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Guns are used in the violent acts and reducing the easy availability w/o background checks is common sense. Interesting that gun nuts want to defend a vaguely written 2nd Amendment yet have no problem with controlling the 1st – when it suits their needs. How many fans of cage fighting do you suppose would fall into the "liberal" category?
They continue to push for a total ban on so called assault weapons while you can still legally purchase fully automatic weapons, or other destructive devices as defined under the National Firearms Act such as cannons, bazookas, artillery, tanks. You must pay fees, pass extensive background checks and have local law enforcement sign off but you can own them as long as state laws allow as well. Doesn't anyone see the irony of this? The ban should fail, those who have them wont give them up if it doesn't.
Heck Obama just sold more guns then anyone in the last few months. Congratulations Obama for supporting our industry. I vote you salesman of the year award.
Every one of you who appose to guns and say they are bad and there is no need are ignorant! One day soon all of you will be brought out of your perfect little fantasy world's that the media and gov. Have created in your mind! Taking away our right to bare arms is just one more step closer to America being ran down by thugs and gangs! Maybe you have never had the need for a gun but there are millions of people who have and are still alive because they were armed! Making guns illegal is like saying to gangs and robbers "hey were unarmed take our belongings and rob our homes bc we cant stop you!" When your day comes and someone threatens your family or loved ones and you can do nothing to stop it and you have to watch them be killed, maybe then you will realize the standpoint we have. Ill keep my life, good luck defending yours
You can tell how many Progressives are on this site with all the comments hating on the NRA. All of them fear guns and believe in a world of peace and rainbows. So the plan to wrap the minds of the next generations into sissy little girls is working. What better way to take away guns than to raise people up thinking that guns are just for hunting and sports, once you do that the ones that don't do either will have no problem having them taken away. What do they need a gun for when they don't hunt or shoot for sport? They have the police to protect them and only bad people have guns.
Welcome to the new age of wusses and girly men, they have no clue what the 2nd Amendment was designed for and don't care because it has nothing to do with them they are told.
I really wish people would stop saying that Obama is going to take their guns away. He isn't. For you raving, crazy gun-lovers, did you know that there's something called the 2nd Ammendment? Obama can't take that away; I doubt that he's bold enough anyway. He'll most likely make it harder for those that were former criminals and mentally unstable to get guns. Unless you fall into these categories, why should you be worried?
too bad this has to be repeated for each generation as they come but here it is one more time ... you guys don't know what you got until you lose it. Hang in there Wayne... from my cold dead hands...!!!
Why are we arguing? Didn't we take care of this 225 years ago when we adopted the U.S. Constitution?
You know the Bill of RIGHTS. The 2nd Amendment.
Only guns can easily kill innocent people running away from you.
Only guns can kill innocent people trying to escape from you in their car.
Those people's right to have life is stated in the Constitution before the lesser freedom to bear arms
It is time for Obama to just start having these fools arrested for instigating riots. They belong in prison as they are criminals. As for the 2 amendment, for America to continue to survive and be a place to pursue peace and happiness it must go. Having half the country armed and weapons easily accessible to the mentally ill and gang members does the country no good. The Government needs to bring the military boys home and go house to house collecting and destroying civilian firearms.
Wayne LaPierre say's he'll fight. The AFLAC duck says "AFLAC". Fred Flinstone say "Yabba Dabba Doo". Homer Simpson says "Doh!". There is no news here. I suspect the people who are impressed by LaPierre's message to buy more guns are the same folks who are impressed when three talking frogs tell them to buy more "Bud" "Wise" "Er".
The NRA is such a despicable organization!!!! In a time where we need to find solutions to these continuous killings, the NRA is aggravating the problem with their own selfish, sick agenda! With each step they take, the more foolish and out of touch they look! Down with the NRA!!!!!
Number one reason to own guns...Government. "Democide", in the last century the number one cause of human deaths has been from governments, not any other cause. Make fun of me, mock me, ridicule me for saying it all you want....but facts can be stuborn things. And the fact is that governments in the last century have murdered hundreds of millions of human beings. That's why owning a firearm of any type is and should remain a human rights.
The point that Lapierre is missing is that there are too many different types of weapons that only the military and SWAT should be accessing. Closing loopholes and ways to access weapons can start to reduce gun violence. There are other factors as well, but knowing where the weapons are how they got there among other question is a good start. Besides, prosecuting people for weapons charges can and is very difficult.