

Gun Control:

Was Harry Reid right to Reject It?

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre on Sunday declared that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg “can’t Buy America” when it comes to the national gun debate.He described Bloomberg as "reckless" and "insane."Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” LaPierre was reacting to Saturday’s announcement by Bloomberg of a new $12 million television ad campaign from Mayors Against Illegal Guns to help push senators in key states to back gun control efforts, including comprehensive background checks."He can't spend enough of his $27 billion to impose his will on the American people," LaPierre asserted."He's going to find out that this is a country of the people, by the people and for the people and he can't spend enough of his [money] to try to impose his will on the American public. They don't want him in their restaurants, they don't want him in their homes, they don't want him telling them what food to eat - they sure don't want him telling them what self-defense firearms to own. And he can't buy America," LaPierre said "He's so reckless in terms of his comments on this whole gun issue."Host David Gregory asked if LaPierre was prepared for Bloomberg seemingly gearing up to become the left's alternative to the NRA. LaPierre scoffed at what he described as a hollow threat."We have people all over, millions of people, sending us 5, 10, 15, 20 dollar checks telling us to stand up to this guy that says that we can only have three bullets, which is what he said. Stand up to this guy that says ridiculous things like, 'The NRA wants firearms with nukes on them.' I mean it's insane the stuff he says," LaPierre said.Bloomberg, appearing earlier in the program, predicted that there would be a political backlash against lawmakers who disregard the will of the people."We're trying to do everything we can to impress upon the senators that this is what the survivors want, this is what the public wants," he explained. "If 90 percent of the public want something, and their representatives vote against that, common sense says, they are going to have a price to pay for that."LaPierre also flashed a newly released study pinpointing Chicago as 90th — out of 90 jurisdictions — in enforcing existing laws against felons carrying weapons.“Why is Chicago dead last in enforcement of the gun laws against gangs with guns, felons with guns, drug dealers with guns?” he asked Gregory.LaPierre insisted that the push for universal background checks on American gun owners is “a dishonest premise” that will lead to the creation of a list that will be abused by the government and media.“Criminals aren’t going to be checked,” he said. “The shooters in Tucson, in Aurora, in Newtown, they’re not going to be checked. They’re unrecognizable.”LaPierre also said the NRA-supported instant-check system on gun dealers around the county also falls short.“We’re a billion dollars into this system now,” he said. “It’s not fair. It’s not accurate. It’s not instant. They don’t prosecute any of the criminals that they catch. It’s a speed bump for the law-abiding.“They want to take this current mess of a system and expand it, now, to 100 million law-abiding gun owners,” LaPierre continued. “There is going to be a list created. That list will be abused."Some newspaper will print it all. Somebody will hack it. We want to do the real things that make people safe. What’s appalled me about this whole debate is how little it’s had to do with making people safe and how much it has to do with this decade-long agenda to attack the Second Amendment.”