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CPAC 2015: The six most controversial things said by NRA head Wayne LaPierre

NRA CEO is no stranger to controversy as the face of the gun lobby in the US

Payton Guion
Saturday 28 February 2015 00:01 GMT
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(AP Images)

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As the head of the gun lobby in the US, Wayne LaPierre -- CEO of the National Rifle Association -- courts controversy almost every time he opens his mouth.

Nothing changed as he took the stage on Friday afternoon at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual meeting of the most right-wing members of American politics.

Mr LaPierre found an audience at CPAC more sympathetic to his views than the average crowd, but it did not stop him from making controversial claims in his short time at the convention.

Below are the six most controversial quotes from his CPAC 2015 speech.

  1. "They're (Isis) already here. How much longer before the horrors we witnessed in Paris or in Copenhagen come to the supposedly gun-free zone of the Mall of America?"
  2. "Our right to privacy is unlocked, analysed, mined for data, catalogued, cross-referenced and filed away for future use faster than you can say the words Big Brother."
  3. "If so-called gun-free zones supposedly save lives, why doesn't Obama simply declare Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan to be one big, happy, gun-free zone?"
  4. "Even when they're (liberal politicians) caught lying and cheating and stealing and running our entire economy with a Ponzi scheme that's so big even Bernie Madoff wouldn't have the spine to try it, no body goes to jail."
  5. "I've got news for the media. Your First Amendment right is not license to kill the Second Amendment with lies."
  6. "The safest place for American freedom is the National Rifle Association."

Follow Payton Guion on Twitter @PaytonGuion.

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