[h=3]By JESS BRAVIN[/h]The National Rifle Association defended its call for armed guards to be placed in schools and ceded no ground on tougher gun laws, while some Republicans also questioned whether new firearms rules would help prevent gun violence.
"One more law on top of 20,000 laws" already on the books would do no good, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday. He faulted federal authorities for failing to adequately enforce existing regulations, saying that felons who attempt to buy guns rarely are prosecuted.
Mr. LaPierre also defended the NRA's proposal to put armed guards in school, saying, "If it's crazy to call for putting police in and securing our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy." He added: "I think the American people think it's crazy not to do it."
Asked if the NRA would help pay for its proposal to place armed guards in every school, Mr. LaPierre instead suggested the funds could be found in the federal budget. He said that if the U.S. can pay to train police in Iraq, which it has been doing since the American-led invasion that toppled the Saddam Hussein regime, it could also afford to underwrite the NRA plan.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), appearing on the program immediately after Mr. LaPierre, said one couldn't reduce gun violence without considering access to firearms and ammunition. That would be "like trying to prevent lung cancer without talking about cigarettes," he said.
He said Mr. LaPierre had misread public concern following the Newtown, Conn., massacre.
"He's turning people off—that's not where America is at," Mr. Schumer said. The NRA leader's views were so extreme, he said, "he actually helps the cause of us passing sensible" gun regulations.
Former Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R., Ark.), who is spearheading the NRA initiative, said: "If you have a choice of sending your child to a school that has that type of protection versus not, I think most people in America would say, let's go to what would be the school that invests in that type of safety and security." He make the remarks on ABC's "This Week."
He added, however, that he didn't support arming teachers so they could shoot attackers in the classroom. "It's much better to have a retired police officer or a retired military person who's been trained for sensitive environments," Mr. Hutchinson said.
Although no armed guard was stationed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, where a gunman shot 20 children and six staff members dead, Colorado's Columbine High School did have a sheriff's deputy assigned to campus during the 1999 massacre in which two students killed 12 classmates and a teacher.
Meanwhile, Republicans argued Sunday that easy access to firearms didn't threaten public safety, instead pointing the finger at inadequate security at schools and other massacre scenes, as well as media portrayals of violence they suggest inspire unstable individuals to commit mass killings.
"The assault weapons ban didn't work then and it won't work now," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) tweeted Sunday morning, referring to a federal regulation that expired in 2004. That measure's author, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) said last week she would seek to reinstitute the regulation, which also would restrict ammunition magazines containing more than 10 rounds.
Later, on "Meet the Press," Mr. Graham said he had an AR-15 rifle at his home and said better school security and more effective mental-health programs were part of the solution to cutting gun violence. "But I don't suggest we ban every movie with a gun in it and every video that's violent, and I don't suggest you take my right to buy an AR-15 away from me, because I don't think it will work."
The White House has signaled that it is looking at supporting limits on high-capacity gun magazines and a reinstatement of the assault-weapons ban.
In a Saturday op-ed, a former adviser to former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said those calling for tougher gun regulations are "missing the underlying problem—and that's Hollywood." Writing in the Washington Times, the adviser, J.D. Gordon, observed that "today's blockbusters routinely glorify violence."
At least one Republican, retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, said that Sen. Feinstein's proposal should be considered. "It's the semiautomatics and those large magazines that can be fired off very quickly," Ms. Hutchison said on the CBS News program "Face the Nation." "I think that does need to be looked at."
Ms. Hutchison won't be able to vote on that bill, however. She leaves the Senate next month, with tea-party-backed Republican Ted Cruz taking her seat.
Write to Jess Bravin at [email protected]
"One more law on top of 20,000 laws" already on the books would do no good, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday. He faulted federal authorities for failing to adequately enforce existing regulations, saying that felons who attempt to buy guns rarely are prosecuted.
Mr. LaPierre also defended the NRA's proposal to put armed guards in school, saying, "If it's crazy to call for putting police in and securing our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy." He added: "I think the American people think it's crazy not to do it."
Asked if the NRA would help pay for its proposal to place armed guards in every school, Mr. LaPierre instead suggested the funds could be found in the federal budget. He said that if the U.S. can pay to train police in Iraq, which it has been doing since the American-led invasion that toppled the Saddam Hussein regime, it could also afford to underwrite the NRA plan.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), appearing on the program immediately after Mr. LaPierre, said one couldn't reduce gun violence without considering access to firearms and ammunition. That would be "like trying to prevent lung cancer without talking about cigarettes," he said.
He said Mr. LaPierre had misread public concern following the Newtown, Conn., massacre.
"He's turning people off—that's not where America is at," Mr. Schumer said. The NRA leader's views were so extreme, he said, "he actually helps the cause of us passing sensible" gun regulations.
Former Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R., Ark.), who is spearheading the NRA initiative, said: "If you have a choice of sending your child to a school that has that type of protection versus not, I think most people in America would say, let's go to what would be the school that invests in that type of safety and security." He make the remarks on ABC's "This Week."
He added, however, that he didn't support arming teachers so they could shoot attackers in the classroom. "It's much better to have a retired police officer or a retired military person who's been trained for sensitive environments," Mr. Hutchinson said.
Although no armed guard was stationed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, where a gunman shot 20 children and six staff members dead, Colorado's Columbine High School did have a sheriff's deputy assigned to campus during the 1999 massacre in which two students killed 12 classmates and a teacher.
Meanwhile, Republicans argued Sunday that easy access to firearms didn't threaten public safety, instead pointing the finger at inadequate security at schools and other massacre scenes, as well as media portrayals of violence they suggest inspire unstable individuals to commit mass killings.
"The assault weapons ban didn't work then and it won't work now," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) tweeted Sunday morning, referring to a federal regulation that expired in 2004. That measure's author, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) said last week she would seek to reinstitute the regulation, which also would restrict ammunition magazines containing more than 10 rounds.
Later, on "Meet the Press," Mr. Graham said he had an AR-15 rifle at his home and said better school security and more effective mental-health programs were part of the solution to cutting gun violence. "But I don't suggest we ban every movie with a gun in it and every video that's violent, and I don't suggest you take my right to buy an AR-15 away from me, because I don't think it will work."
The White House has signaled that it is looking at supporting limits on high-capacity gun magazines and a reinstatement of the assault-weapons ban.
In a Saturday op-ed, a former adviser to former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said those calling for tougher gun regulations are "missing the underlying problem—and that's Hollywood." Writing in the Washington Times, the adviser, J.D. Gordon, observed that "today's blockbusters routinely glorify violence."
At least one Republican, retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, said that Sen. Feinstein's proposal should be considered. "It's the semiautomatics and those large magazines that can be fired off very quickly," Ms. Hutchison said on the CBS News program "Face the Nation." "I think that does need to be looked at."
Ms. Hutchison won't be able to vote on that bill, however. She leaves the Senate next month, with tea-party-backed Republican Ted Cruz taking her seat.
Write to Jess Bravin at [email protected]