N.R.A. Declines to Meet With Obama on Gun Policy

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Times

More than two months after the Tucson shootings, the administration is calling together both the gun lobby and gun safety groups to find common ground. But President Obama has no plans to take the lead in proposing further gun control legislation, aides say, and the nation’s major gun rights group is snubbing the invitation.

But the National Rifle Association, for decades the most formidable force against proposals to limit gun sales or ownership, is refusing to join the discussion — possibly dooming it from the start, given the lobby’s clout with both parties in Congress. Administration officials had indicated they expected that the group would be represented at a meeting, perhaps on Friday.

“Why should I or the N.R.A. go sit down with a group of people that have spent a lifetime trying to destroy the Second Amendment in the United States?” said Wayne LaPierre, the longtime chief executive of the National Rifle Association.

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“It shouldn’t be a dialogue about guns; it really should be a dialogue about dangerous people,” Mr. LaPierre said, adding that his group has supported proposals to prevent gun sales to the mentally ill, strengthen a national system of background checks and spur states to provide needed data.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/us/politics/15guns.html?_r=1&hp

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As a gun owner I say to LaPierre and the NRA that is chickenshit to not attend the meetings. But you'll sure bitch later and run scare the gun owners ads no matter what the Obama administration proposes on guns!

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[whathehell]

10. I understand and agree with your sentiments perfectly..

but could we express them without that ugly, mysogynistic phrase?

DU women would appreciate it.

[jpak]

16. That is prison slang

no women required

[whathehell]

21. This is Democratic Underground, not prison

and women are "required" and here.

[onehandle]

2. They can't be seen with the Black President under any circumstance.

Their base would stop writing checks.

[Kolesar]

20. The black President is the best thing that ever happened to them

Adult men can paint horns on his picture and show to their friends

[onehandle]

23. Not meeting with Obama and slamming him and Democrats is the equivalent of that.

'We shunned the Black Devil and our opposition party. Write us a check.'

[plumbob]

3. Wayne the Peter is on top of his usual game.

Obstruction, lies, and pure chickenshit.

[sharesunited]

4. Act unilaterally. Shut down commerce in new guns and ammo.

[AtheistCrusader]

6. You're about as helpful as LaPierre.

[fittosurvive]

40. Aren't you skipping a step? In order to crown a King, you must first

establish a monarchy. Or perhaps you would prefer a NAZI style dictatorship.

Either choice calls for the extermination of millions of people. Are you locked and loaded?

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Lame as hell. Screw you Wayne.

[msongs]

7. 2nd amendment does NOT prohibit guns ownership by mentally ill.....is the NRA admitting gun control

is ok only for people IT doesn't want to have guns but not for its own members? hmm

[slackmaster]

32. Federal law doesn't prohibit gun onwership by mentally ill people either, msongs

The law, msongs. Have you read it?

[jillan]

8. What are you afraid of Wayne?

[PatrynXX]

9. Thats the NRA for you. fantasy land..

Who's been destroying the second amendment. certainly know more trying to destroy the first more than the second.

[progressoid]

11. LaPierre gives assholes a bad name.

[Doctor_J]

12. To DU NRA members

jesus H christ

[Bragi]

26. I agree /nt

[tmhout]

13. .

“It shouldn’t be a dialogue about guns; it really should be a
dialogue about dangerous people,” Mr. LaPierre said

Yeah and people who own  guns are dangerous

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bigmack]

14. This is NOT what would have happened with...

certain other Dem presidents. Nobody turned down a meet with FDR, HST, or LBJ. They wouldn't dare.

Or certain Repub presidents, either. Nobody turned down TR.

It shows contempt for the office as well as the man, and should be answered with the power of the office. Wayne needs a lesson in realpolitik. Would that Pres. Obama would give it to him.

[Bragi]

27. You wrote:

"Wayne needs a lesson in realpolitik. Would that Pres. Obama would give it to him."

Good one!

:rofl:

[fittosurvive]

42. That is not true--the NRA shunned the first Bush after being deceived by him.

[right2bfree]

17. We need to get the guns out of the hands of the mentally ill now! nt

[slackmaster]

33. Mentally ill people have the same civil rights as the rest of us, right2bfree

You should familiarize yourself with the law before attempting to declare what we "need" to do.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sup_01_18_10_I_20_44.html

[right2bfree]

44. Not if they are committed they dont. Guns are NOT allowed for people with mental issues here. nt

[PurityOfEssence]

18. Keep reachin' out. It'll work someday.

Bill Clinton still thinks that the reactionaries will come around and love HIM someday, too...

[western mass]

19. Why should they? Obama'll give them what they want regardless

[RamboLiberal]

22. LaPierre told Faux News he favors background checks on gun buyers

LaPierre, meanwhile, told Fox News that he supports instant background checks on gun buyers, but the solution to shootings is to target "evil people and mad men,"' not guns.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/03/obama-holds-gun-law-meetings-without-the-nra/1?loc=interstitialskip

[Bragi]

24. The NRA might see the invite as a snub

The NRA may just be annoyed that Obama didn't employ his usual tactic, where he gives in to all the demands of his opponents, and THEN asks them for a meeting.

The NRA probably wonders why it is being treated differently than the treatment that is usually given to other anti-Obama groups.

Perhaps OBama will today mend fences by belatedly agreeing all the NRA demands and then re-extending the invite so he can at least get a photo op with them at the White House.

[Doctor_J]

25. and put another "bi-partisan" bullet point on the WH web site

declaring it a major step toward healing the nation.

[michreject]

28. I wouldn't give the gun control group the time of day

They(Brady bunch) are one of the most dishonest group there is. They're Republicans, natch.

[hack89]

29. I can see the NRA's point

Obama wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wants a big pow-wow so he can say he is doing something yet refuses to propose actual legislation because he knows that gun legislation seen as restricting existing gun rights would be a political disaster. Why should the NRA give Obama political top cover without something in return? If he would to say that gun bans or the AWB were off the table and the focus was on tightening the NICS process and ensuring states were complying with their legal responsibilities to provide accurate and timely information to the NICS then I suspect they would have no problem participating - the NRA played a big role in improving NICS after the Virginia Tech shooting.

[Doctor_J]

34. Heh

Why should the NRA give Obama political top cover without something in return?

Uhh, how about because the president of the United States wants to discuss a severe public health issue in which they have a stake?

Sounds like the NRA is terrorizing the WH, successfully. Like I said up thread, the DU NRA members are really a sorry bunch.

[hack89]

37. It is not a public health issue and it is not severe

considering how the number of dead and injured is getting smaller year by year. From the NRA's perspective thing's are on the right track. Considering Obama's past record on the issue they are wise to be alert to a political trap.


it is a criminal justice problem - lets frame the issue correctly.

[X_Digger]

43. Does that 'respect for the office' extend to (R) presidents, too?

If the ACLU had turned down an invitation to the white house from chimpy, to discuss 'commensense first amendment' issues in light of 'terrah terrah terrah' would you be similarly poutraged?

[rrneck]

30. They should never be afraid to talk.

They're opting out for the same reason Obama's opting in. They play to the right by snubbing him and Obama can make noises about gun control for the benefit of the left and blame the Republican Congress when it doesn't go anywhere. That way they all make money.

[Rex]

31. Oh lord no! Now Obama won't rest until he has compromised the NRA

into blissful acceptance. Obama cannot take the word no for an answer when it comes from idiotic people like LaPierre. The dumber they are, the more he tries to get their acceptance.

[Doctor_J]

35. This is what happens when your "leader" caves on every issue

He gets treated like the round-healed appeaser.

[CBHagman]

36. I really hope this is the PR equivalent of Walker...

...that is, that LaPierre and his ilk come off looking extreme and unyielding to the public. I imagine there are many rank-and-file members of the NRA who would be fine with sitting down with people whose opinions they don't necessarily share.

[hack89]

41. I doubt it

Gun control is not a front burner issue by any stretch of the imagination. This is simply Obama throwing a bone to a particularly loyal constituency.

I think most people understand that violent crime is at historic lows and still declining.

[Vinee]

38. That reminds me, I need to renew my subscription to American Rifleman.

[slackmaster]

39. Have you checked out Scientific American Rifleman?

Great article on rail guns this month.