By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
The National Rifle Association is getting support and visceral opposition for its proposal, unveiled Friday, to put armed security volunteers in every school, under a program to be headed by former Congressman Asa Hutchinson.
NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre announced the National School Shield Emergency Response program during a press event that was interrupted by protesters waving signs accusing the organization of murdering children. In the aftermath, perennial anti-gunners including Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and the Violence Policy Center were quickly out with statements dismissing the effort.
LaPierre blasted one of the anti-gun lobby’s sacred cows by attacking gun-free zones.
“Politicians pass laws for Gun-Free School Zones,” LaPierre stated. “They issue press releases bragging about them. They post signs advertising them. And in so doing, they tell every insane killer in America that schools are their safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk.”
He didn’t stop there, either, blasting Congress for not providing adequate funding for school security while sending millions of dollars overseas.
“With all the foreign aid,” LaPierre observed, “with all the money in the federal budget, we can’t afford to put a police officer in every school?Even if they did that, politicians have no business — and no authority — denying us the right, the ability, or the moral imperative to protect ourselves and our loved ones from harm.”
And he took a swipe at President Barack Obama, who had earlier put anti-gun Vice President Joe Biden in charge of a gun violence task force.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” LaPierre said, “there is no national, one-size-fits-all solution to protecting our children. But do know this President zeroed outschool emergency planning grants in last year’sbudget, and scrapped ‘Secure Our Schools’ policinggrants in next year’sbudget?”
Criticizing so-called “gun-free zones” is nothing new to the gun rights movement. The NRA, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Gun Owners of America and other groups have been longtime critics of such areas. Researcher John Lott, author of More Guns = Less Crime has frequently noted that virtually all of the mass shootings, with the possible exception of the attempted assassination of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, AZ, have occurred in “gun-free zones.”
That includes the Colorado theater where the Batman Massacre occurred, every public school and university, and such places as Westroads Mall in Omaha, NE and Trolley Square in Salt Lake City.
Reaction across the firearms community is mixed, but is mainly positive. Various firearms forums show support for the proposal.
Meanwhile, the president renewed his pledge to push for gun restrictions including a ban on so-called “assault weapons.”
The Daily Caller exposed how journalists began sending messages via Twitter, reflecting a strong bias against the NRA even while the press event was in progress.
The Violence Policy Center released a statement blasting the NRA’s proposal, claiming that it “cynically allows for the continued sale of the assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines marketed by its gun industry corporate donors.”
LaPierre introduced Hutchinson, who told the press that he accepted the job on the condition that it be completely independent. He outlined two key elements of the project.
First, there will be a model security plan for use as “a template” by local school districts. Those schools can tailor the plan to their individual needs. One element of the plan is that armed, trained and qualified school security personnel will be available, and if a school district believes “for whatever reason” that it does not need that level of security Hutchinson said the decision will be left up to the parents and teachers.
Second, the plan does not require large expenditures, but rather local volunteers, he explained.
No questions were allowed but LaPierre said the NRA would respond to inquiries from the press.
