NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre doubled down this morning on what was a rather stunning press conference Friday, defending his plan to put armed officers in every school in the U.S. on "Meet the Press."
"If it's crazy to call for armed officers in our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy," LaPierre told NBC's David Gregory. "I think the American people think it's crazy not to do it. It's the one thing that would keep people safe."
The NRA spoke out for the first time on Friday in the aftermath of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 children and seven others dead. In the press conference, LaPierre blamed many things for the influx of mass shootings in the U.S. — everything from gun-free school zones, the media, movies, violent video games, and even hurricanes.
On Sunday, he repeated many of the same themes. He repeated his call to put armed officers in every school, he urged Congress to create a database of mentally ill, and he called Sen. Dianne Feinstein's plan to re-introduce an assault weapons ban a "phony piece of legislation."
LaPierre refused to support any new measures of stricter gun control, telling Gregory that most of the existing laws on the books are rarely enforced.
"I know there's a media machine in this country that wants to blame guns every time something happens," "I know there's an anti-gun industry in this town." But of an assault weapons ban, he said, "We don't think it works, and we don't support it."
Watch the full interview below:
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