NRA head Wayne LaPierre spoke Thursday at the annual conservative convention, lambasting the creation of gun-free zones. He called the areas ‒ which often include schools, movie theaters and restaurants ‒ "the worst and most dangerous of all lies."
"The simple truth [is] that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” LaPierre said, repeating a favorite conservative talking point. “The politicians and the media be damned."
There was of course this rather embarrassing fact about the convention at which LaPierre was speaking.
Yep the conservatives want to allow guns at every public place in America. Except in one where they might be shot of course.At CPAC there will be no good guys with guns :/ pic.twitter.com/Kn8tUWyubs— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) March 3, 2016
On a related note:
On Thursday, gunmaker Smith & Wesson (SWHC) reported huge quarterly numbers. Third quarter revenues rose 61% year-over-year to $211 million, boosted by a 25.3% jump in handgun sales. Earnings per share of $0.59 beat estimates by $0.18, and the company is even more optimistic about the future, issuing strong guidance for next quarter.
In the company’s latest annual filing, the gunmaker said, “We experienced strong consumer demand for our firearm products following a new administration taking office in Washington, D.C. in 2009. In addition, speculation surrounding increased gun control at the federal, state, and local level and heightened fears of terrorism and crime can affect consumer demand for our products. Often, such concerns result in an increase in near-term consumer demand and subsequent softening of demand when such concerns subside.”
In other words with the NRA's help gun manufacturers were able to dramatically increase gun sales with claims that the Obama administration would soon make some gun sales illegal, or would even be "coming for our guns."
That fear, punctuated by reports or mass shootings, helped to put more guns in the hands of frightened people, terrified by the government, crime, and of course terrorism. (The Islamic kind of course, not domestic.)
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