“All of America’s women, you aren’t free if you aren’t free to defend yourself,” NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre said. “If President Obama, Hillary Clinton or anyone else denies you that right, they don’t really care about you at all.” | Getty NRA chief: Clinton's gun stance proves she doesn't care about women Wayne LaPierre had another message for Clinton on a 2016 gun policy debate: ‘Bring it on’

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. — If Hillary Clinton really cared about women, she'd fight any attempt to restrict their access to firearms, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre argued Thursday.

“All of America’s women, you aren’t free if you aren’t free to defend yourself,” he said. “If President Obama, Hillary Clinton or anyone else denies you that right, they don’t really care about you at all.”


In a pointed speech at CPAC, the annual conservative conference held just outside Washington, LaPierre focused most of his vitriol on President Barack Obama, suggesting women should have access to guns to defend themselves against potential rapists or other criminals.

“No woman should be left to face evil with empty hands,” he said.

LaPierre promised to bring the weight of the gun lobby out to stop Clinton’s election in November. He made no mention, however, of her rival presidential nomination, Bernie Sanders, who as a Vermont senator has had a mixed relationship with the organization.

“Mrs. Clinton, if you want to come after the NRA and you want a fight over the God-given rights of [gun owners] … if you want to turn this election into a bare knuckled brawl for the survival of our Constitutional freedoms, bring it on,” he boomed during a 30-minute speech at CPAC

LaPierre argued that Clinton “hates the Second Amendment” and gun owners themselves. He targeted her husband, former President Bill Clinton’s, stance on gun ownership and said that she represents “déjà vu all over again.”