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NRA Chief Wayne LaPierre: America Guards Its Jewelry Stores Better Than Its Schools - RealClearPolitics

Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association's Executive Vice President, told the Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday that schools should have armed security to protect students. He also responded to criticism from Parkland shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez about the NRA's position on gun control.

"Dana Loesch, I want you to know that we will support your two children in the way that you will not," Gonzalez told NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch at a Wednesday town hall moderated by CNN's Jake Tapper, referring to gun control.

LaPierre repeated his line about "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" and also added: "It is a bizarre fact that in this country our jewelry stores are more important than our children. Our banks, airports, NBA games, NFL games, office buildings, movie stars, politicians, they're all more protected than our children at school/ Does that make any sense to anybody? Do we really love our money and celebrities more than children?"

"Can we ask that question honestly when we protect so much with armed security, while we drop off our kids at schools that are so-called gun-free zones that are wide open targets for any crazy mad man bent on evil to come there first?"

"The whole idea from some of our opponents that armed security makes us less safe is completely ridiculous. if that's true, think about this... let's go ahead and remove it from everywhere. From the White House, from Capitol Hill, and remove it from Hollywood," he said. "Everyday young children are being dropped off at schools that are wide open soft targets. It should not be easier for some madman to shoot up a school than a bank or a jewelry store or some Hollywood gala."

Watch LaPierre's full speech from the 2017 CPAC gathering via CBS:

The National Rifle Association's Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference one week after a deadly school shooting in Florida sparked renewed calls for stricter gun laws across the country.

“As usual, the opportunists waited not one second to exploit tragedy for political gain,” LaPierre said during CPAC, the annual gathering of conservative activists and Republican leaders in National Harbor, Md. “Chris Murphy, Nancy Pelosi, and more, cheered on by the national media, eager to blame the NRA and call for more government control.”

“They hate the NRA,” LaPierre said.”The elites don’t care one wit about school children. If they truly cared, they would protect them.”

“It’s not a safety issue, it’s a political issue,” LaPierre said. “They care more about control. Their goal is to eliminate the Second Amendment and our firearms freedoms so they can eliminate all individual freedoms.”

“They don’t care if their laws work or not,” he added. They just want get more laws to get more control over people. But the NRA, the NRA does care.”