Lawmakers voice opposition to NRA's idea to arm schools

WASHINGTON D.C. (KGO) -- On Friday the National Rifle Association broke its silence on the Connecticut school shooting by suggesting that there should be more guns on campus, not fewer. The NRA says there should be an armed police officer at every school, but that got quite a reaction on Friday.

It certainly did. Few expected the NRA to come out in favor of gun control, but their executive vice president never even brought it up. They sent a sharp message through its leader, executive vice president Wayne Lapierre -- no retreat.

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," said Lapierre.

The NRA leader said what's needed is an armed police officer in every single school and he accused Washington of rank hypocrisy for protecting the president and Congress with armed security, but failing to do the same for school children.

"We as a society leave them every day utterly defenseless," said Lapierre.

Lapierre unloaded on the news media for the way it reports on mass murderers and he condemned the producers of violent video games. But as San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr points out, there was no mention of guns.

"To suggest that guns shouldn't be a part of the conversation I just think is ridiculous. I mean, guns have to be part of the conversation," said Suhr.

The chief calls it crazy to allow high capacity ammunition clips and weapons of war on our city streets.

"I support the right to bear arms, I have guns myself, but you know, to have an assault rifle with a high capacity magazine, I just don't think there's any place for that on any streets of any city in America," said Suhr.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the NRA proposal impractical. She said Friday, "'Wait a minute, wait a minute, man with a gun, I have it locked up someplace. Wait until I go get it,' This just doesn't make sense."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called it a distraction. She said, "It's a distraction from the prevalence of large ammunition feeding devices that allow shooters to expel 20, 30, 60, 100, and even more bullets. And it's a distraction from how easy it is to purchase weapons from gun shows with no background checks at all."

In Richmond, parents of elementary school children told ABC7, the NRA's proposal is not for them.

"I don't think that this proposed escalation is going to get to the root of any of the problems," said Heather Hughes, a parent.

But at the Los Angeles Rifle And Revolver Club retired Sheriff's Deputy Ed Knutson likes the NRA plan.

"The only way to fight fire is with fire, so if you've got somebody that's armed and you're not, you're part of the problem not part of the solution," said Ed Knutson, from the La Rifle And Revolver Club.

Part of what the NRA was doing was sending message to lawmakers in Washington D.C. that clamping down on assault weapons and large ammo magazines will draw fire from the NRA.

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guns, NRA, nancy pelosi, dianne feinstein, politics, mark matthews

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