At a no-questions press conference in late December following the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre announced a bold new multibillion-dollar proposal to end school shootings: Put an armed security guard or police officer in every school in the country. LaPierre commissioned a special task force to develop the plan, and deputized Asa Hutchinson, a former Republican congressman from Arkansas and director of the Drug Enforcement Agency under President George W. Bush, to head the effort.
But there's something the LaPierre didn't mention: Hutchinson sits on the board of directors of Pinkerton Government Services, a subsidiary of one of the nation's largest private security contractors, Securitas. And if the NRA's—and Hutchinson's—proposals are enacted into law, Securitas, a firm Hutchinson once lobbied for in Washington, could stand to score big.
This is one of the most despicable tricks I've seen yet. It's bad enough that La Pierre set the entire pro-gun world on fire with the idea that arming more good guys is the answer INSTEAD of doing something about gun availability to the unfit and dangerous, but now this. The method behind his madness was nothing more lofty than filthy lucre, when what's in the balance is the continuing gun violence epidemic in the US. I have no words for that level of political opportunism. It's despicable and reprehensible.
There should be a mass exodus from the membership roles of the NRA over this. The legacy of Papa Bush should inspire all thinking members.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment-
Mike,
ReplyDeleteI doubt that this was the only motivation behind Wayne's suggestions, but it is, unfortunately, a common tactic in modern politics. The Obama Administration has been sinking to similar depths in their suggestions to the press that FFL's like Wal-Mart should get behind the push for stopping private sales because it would allow them to cash in on the transactions.
Cronyism is Odious no matter who is doing it.
I'm shocked to learn that politics is corrupt. Shocked, shocked...
ReplyDeleteHow about this: Let teachers with carry licenses carry their guns into their schools. That way, no security company has to be hired. I have a license, and I know of several teachers and school employees who are getting theirs.