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Vice President of NRA, Wayne LaPierre: Old Dog, Old Tricks

To quote Lawrence O'Donnell from his show back in February, Wayne LaPierre is “Washington's lobbyist in favor of murderer's rights, always to use the gun of their choice.” There is no better summary of a man who ensures his $1.27 million salary every year by being a paid serial liar in defense of arms dealers, which groups such as the Violence Policy Center have made clear again and again. Truthout doesn’t take corporate funding – this lets us do the brave, independent reporting that makes us unique. Please support this work by making a tax-deductible donation today – just click here to donate.

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To quote Lawrence O'Donnell from his show back in February, Wayne LaPierre is “Washington's lobbyist in favor of murderer's rights, always to use the gun of their choice.” There is no better summary of a man who ensures his $1.27 million salary every year by being a paid serial liar in defense of arms dealers, which groups such as the Violence Policy Center have made clear again and again.

Truthout doesn’t take corporate funding – this lets us do the brave, independent reporting that makes us unique. Please support this work by making a tax-deductible donation today – just click here to donate.

So it should be no surprise that when faced with the rights of Americans to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, or those of Mexican Drug Cartels, he comes down squarely on the side of the latter, as pointed out by Media Matters:

Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), has been on a media blitz trying to defend an NRA lawsuit that attempts to block an executive rule aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of cartels and criminals. The new rule would require gun stores along the border with Mexico to report to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) when a person purchases multiple long guns, such as the cartel favorite AK-47.

ATF agent and Fast and Furious whistleblower Peter Forcelli, whom the NRA has previously cited as an expert on tactics, disagrees with LaPierre. Forcelli told Political Correction that the “vast majority of ATF agents support the reporting requirement, because they know how it works.”

Of course it works. It is common sense that it would work, except manufacturing doubt—from the oil companies to the tobacco pushers to the gun runners—is what these guys do. Common sense and science are their enemies. They might save many lives, but then LaPierre might only make $1.1 million per annum.

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