NRA refuses to bend on background checks
‘It’s going to affect only the law-abiding’
WASHINGTON • The National Rifle Association’s executive vice-president continued to oppose background checks for all gun purchases, despite polls indicating that most members of the influential gun-rights lobbying group don’t share his position.
The NRA’s Wayne LaPierre said on Fox News on Sunday that background checks for all gun purchases would lead to a national registry of gun owners. Critics say such a registry could lead to taxes on guns or to confiscation.
Mark Kelly, a gun owner and husband of Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman who survived a 2011 mass shooting, asked LaPierre to listen to his members. He said the current system prevented 1.7 million gun purchases since 1999. However, those potential buyers had other options because many gun sales don’t require a background check.
As Congress responds to the spate of mass shootings in recent years, most notably the December massacre of 20 children and six educators at an elementary school, U.S. President Barack Obama and some lawmakers are calling for a ban on certain semiautomatic weapons and on high-capacity ammunition magazines. However, calls for expanding background checks appear to have gained the most bipartisan support.
LaPierre said requiring checks for all gun purchases would be a bureaucratic nightmare. “It’s going to affect only the law-abiding people. Criminals could care less.”