Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, failed to understand he is not speaking to NRA acolytes whose hands all shoot into the air when he pulls the lever at the side of the podium. He is also repeating history.
In the September 1941 issue of American Rifleman Magazine, associate editor Raymond J. Stan suggested the wartime NRA could provide, " ... rifle clubs ... to build up community leadership that will carry over even when security is again established." He claimed further, "Operating as a unit, the coordination, enthusiasm, morale, and discipline of a band of civilian riflemen would be of the highest order ... The coolness of an experienced rifle or pistol shooter under the heat of excitement and his confidence to do the right thing at the right moment is obvious ..."
Would LaPierre's armed volunteers in the public schools all wear the same color shirts with NRA armbands? Does the shoe industry still make jack boots? No wonder he didn't take questions.
Gerry Souter
Arlington Heights
