National Rifle Association leader Wayne LaPierre on Thursday was defending the Second Amendment, not stoking division with his fiery speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference speech on Thursday, CPAC President Matt Schlapp said Friday.
"It is a cherished right chiseled in our Constitution, the Bill of Rights," Schlapp told CNN's "New Day" co-host Alisyn Camerota.
"The Constitution would be nothing without our Bill of Rights. That is an important thing for us to remember."
During his speech Thursday, LaPierre told the audience that the "elites don't care, one whit, about America's school system and school children. . . their goal is to eliminate the Second Amendment and our firearms freedoms, so they can eradicate all individual freedoms."
Schlapp, however, said he does not believe LaPierre's contention that people don't care about the nation's schools.
"I actually think there's a lot of people, including these victims' families, [whose] heart is in the right place," said Schlapp.
"They are trying to solve a problem and trying to prevent the next kid from being attacked or killed in a school. I think to Wayne's point is a larger point, which is for some people, the whole question of gun control is a bigger fight, the left versus the right. I think that's unfortunate. This is a time for us to listen more, for us to try to work together."
Schlapp said he does believe there are people who "stoke the push for gun control" for political reasons, but that gives false hope for people.
"Where we have the most gun control, we have the highest crime," he said, leading to an argument from Camerota.
"In Connecticut, Newtown, they made all sorts of different new laws and measures, and now their crime and homicide rate went down, okay?" said Camerota.
Schlapp said he does agree that there should be expanded background checks, a stance he pointed out the NRA shares.
"I want to see that happen," he said. "I think there are a lot of conservatives at CPAC who are willing to have the conversation about people that are prone to violence, prone to violence maybe because there are mental issues or other darker issues."
Schlapp added that LaPierre should be part of the conversation, because if the leaders of the nation's Second Amendment groups are cut out, the United States won't come to a consensus.
"He represents millions of Americans," said Schlapp. "The people in the room at CPAC deserve to have a chair around that table, too."
Schlapp also rejected a contention from Camerota that he supports LaPierre's entire stance.
"You have a lot of guests on your show too," he told her. "Wayne is my friend. I respect Wayne LaPierre. I'm glad he's in this room. I like people who fight for the Bill of Rights.They are essential to America being this unique experience in history. It is wrong for people to say there's something hateful about defending the Bill of Rights."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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