Wayne LaPierre Blasts Bloomberg On Guns, Calls Him ‘Insane’ And ‘Reckless’ On NBC

By Garrett QuinnMar 24th, 2013, 12:10 pm
 

NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre lashed out at a wide range of the political opinions held by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on NBC’s Meet The Press this morning. LaPierre told host David Gregory that he thinks Bloomberg is ‘reckless’ and that he won’t beat the NRA because of its grassroots support.

“He’s going to find out this is a country of the people, by the people, and for the people. And he can’t spend enough of his $27 billion to try to impose his will on the American public. They don’t want him in their restaurants, they don’t want him in their homes, they don’t want him telling what food to eat, they sure don’t want him telling what self-defense firearms to own and he can’t buy America,” said LaPierre.

Bloomberg announced last night that he will spend $12 million of his fortune to run anti-gun ads around the country. LaPierre told Gregory that the NRA is not intimidated by these plans because of their vast grassroots and small donor support from around the country. “We have people all over, millions of people, sending us 5, 10, 15, 20 dollar checks telling us to stand up to this guy that says that we can only have three bullets, which is what he said. Stand up to this guy that says ridiculous things like, ‘The NRA wants firearms with nukes on them.’ I mean it’s insane the stuff he says,” LaPierre said.

Gregory challenged LaPierre on his position on background checks, citing a poll that shows over 85 percent of gun owners support them. LaPierre dismissed the suggestion that he is out of step with gun owners by opposing them, calling the thinking surround the legislation “a dishonest premise.”

“Criminals aren’t going to be checked. They’re not going to do this. The shooters in Tucson, Aurora, Newtown, they’re not going to be checked. They’re unrecognizable,” he said noting that the NRA supports the current instant background check system that is in place.

“It’s a speedbump for the law abiding. It slows down the law abiding and does nothing to anybody else,” he said.

Watch clip below via NBC

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com

Filed Under:
Garrett Quinn

Garrett Quinn is the author of the Less is More blog on Boston.com and a frequent contributor to TV and radio in the Boston market. He covered the 2012 presidential campaign for Reason Magazine, particularly the campaign of Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson.