WASHINGTON — The head of the National Rifle Association said it opposes any legislation that “unfairly infringes upon the rights of law-abiding citizens” and said proposals being discussed in Congress would not have prevented the mass shootings in Texas and Ohio that killed 31 people.

NRA chief Wayne LaPierre said in rare public statement Thursday that some federal gun-control proposals “would make millions of law-abiding Americans less safe and less able to defend themselves and their loved ones.”