An unapologetic and visually charged Wayne LaPierre dismissed any responsibility for gun violence Saturday and blasted leaders ranging from Hillary Clinton to former Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the National Rifle Association's annual convention.
"You can see how Michael Bloomberg and his gun-hating modern-day temperance movement are pushing Hollywood to put anti-gun messages in movies now," LaPierre told a standing room only crowd at the gathering in Louisville, Kentucky,
according to the New York Daily News.
The annual three-day NRA meeting runs through Sunday. On Friday, the group endorsed Republican front-runner Donald Trump for president.
LaPierre slammed "Hollywood media elites" as the chief culprits for gun violence. They douse "our kids with reckless, gratuitous, irresponsible gun play." Katie Couric was added to the list this year for a recent anti-gun documentary she produced.
"What do the elites do?" LaPierre asked the audience. "They blame the carnage on your right to protect yourself... Instead of enforcing the laws against the bad guys, they demand laws against the good guys, to disarm us.
"The only thing that does is make matters worse."
LaPierre also singled out former President Bill Clinton, who passed an assault weapon ban in the 1990s.
"The elites and their ideology are destroying this country," said LaPierre. "They tell you, ‘You’re on your own.’ It may be rock and roll for Hillary Clinton, as she collects millions from Hollywood.
"Oh, they promise you the moon. But if you’re not in the elite, chances are you won’t see a cent."
LaPierre compared the First Amendment, and the power it gives the press, to the Second Amendment's right to bear arms. On Friday, Trump repeatedly said that Clinton wants to destroy the Second Amendment. Repeated fact finding by media outlets has failed to find any examples of Clinton saying she'd abolish the amendment, which is beyond the power of any president under the U.S. Constitution.
"When it comes to the Second Amendment, those very same journalists want every kind of background check, every kind of delay, every kind of restriction, every kind of outright ban you can think of," said LaPierre.
"And you know something? They are never going to stop an armed killer, a rapist, a genocidal tyrant or terrorist mass murdered with a rolled-up newspaper," he said to laughter. "But I tell you what — we just might."
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