NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre Challenges Obama to One-on-One Debate About Guns
Leah Jessen /
The head of the National Rifle Association wants to debate President Barack Obama one on one about guns.
“I’ll meet you for a one-on-one, one-hour debate—with a mutually agreed upon moderator—on any network that will take it,” NRA Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre challenged Obama in a video released online Wednesday. “No pre-screened questions and no gas-bag answers.”
“Americans will judge for themselves who they trust and believe on this issue—you or the NRA.”
Obama recently announced executive actions on gun control to curb “gun violence and make our communities safer.” The orders, which bypass Congress, in part provide guidelines for an expanded background check system.
“Let me be clear: The NRA will fight this illegal overreach more aggressively than we have ever challenged anything. But it will take time,” LaPierre said.
“And while millions of peaceful, law-abiding gun owners tiptoe in fear of their government, the killers who terrorize our cities prey upon the innocent with no fear of repercussion whatsoever.”
“Americans are growing more and more sick and tired of Barack Obama,” LaPierre said in the video. “They’re sick of the sanctimony, the narcissistic celebrity, the dishonesty, and the growing number of failures. But more than anything, they have never feared for America’s future like they do right now.”
He added:
Now he has chosen what he misunderstands most about America—the Second Amendment, gun owners, and the NRA. Against the will of Congress, and in defiance of our constitutional system, the president unilaterally decreed that anyone—any lawful citizen—who sells, trades, or gifts even just one firearm might be vulnerable to arrest and charged with a felony.
Last Thursday, Obama took part in a town hall meeting on guns in America, moderated by CNN at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. The NRA, also located in Fairfax, declined to participate in the event.
“They’re [the NRA] just down the street,” Obama said at the town hall. “And, since this is the main reason they exist, you’d think they’d be prepared to have a debate with a president.”
Obama, answering a question from CNN moderator Anderson Cooper, said he would be “happy to meet” with the NRA.
“But the conversation has to be based on facts and truth, and what we’re actually proposing, not some—you know, imaginary fiction in which Obama’s trying to take away your guns,” Obama said.
The NRA actively tweeted during the event.
Biggest kept secret in politics: The National Instant Criminal Background Check System exists because of the #NRA! #GunsinAmerica
— NRA (@NRA) January 8, 2016
LaPierre says that Obama has proven to be “unworthy of our trust.”
“The president further declared that anyone—any lawful citizen—who receives Social Security benefits and has their financial affairs managed by a family member or friend could be denied their constitutional right to buy a firearm and could be charged with a felony if they attempt to purchase one,” LaPierre said.
“It is only a matter of time before he makes an example out of someone. And to do so, the president announced a federal gun force that will be four times the size of the Special Forces units he deployed against ISIS terrorists.”