Wayne LaPierre

Early life

Wayne Robert LaPierre, Jr. was born on November 8, 1949, in Schenectady, New York, the eldest child of Hazel (Gordon) and Wayne Robert LaPierre, Sr. His father was an accountant for the local General Electric plant. The family moved to Roanoke, Virginia, when LaPierre, Jr. was five years old, and he was raised in the Roman Catholic church.

Career

He has been a government activist and lobbyist since receiving his master's degree including positions on the board of directors of the American Association of Political Consultants, the American Conservative Union, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

National Rifle Association activity

Since 1991, he has served as Executive Vice President and chief executive officer of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the largest gun rights and small arms industry advocacy organization in the United States. LaPierre joined the NRA in 1977 after working as a legislative aide to a Democratic Virginia delegate, Vic Thomas.

In 1995, LaPierre wrote a fundraising letter describing federal agents as "jack-booted government thugs" who wear "Nazi bucket helmets and black storm trooper uniforms to attack law-abiding citizens." The term "jack-booted government thugs" had been coined by United States Representative John David Dingell Jr., Democrat of Michigan, in 1981, referring to ATF agents, and came to be frequently repeated by the NRA. Former president George H. W. Bush was so outraged by the letter that he resigned his NRA life membership. In response to growing criticism, LaPierre apologized, saying he didn't intend to "paint all federal law-enforcement officials with the same broad brush".

In 2000, LaPierre said President Bill Clinton tolerated a certain amount of violence and killing to strengthen the case for gun control and to score points for his party. Clinton White House spokesman Joe Lockhart called it "really sick rhetoric, and it should be repudiated by anyone who hears it". In 2004, citing Democratic candidate John Kerry's history of authoring and supporting gun control legislation, LaPierre actively campaigned against the senator in the 2004 presidential elections.

On December 21, 2012, the NRA held a televised media event at Washington's Willard Hotel located adjacent to the White House at which LaPierre read a prepared statement in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in which he connected gun violence with "gun-free zones", violent films and video games, the media, weak databases on mental illness and lax security, and called for armed officers at American schools in an effort to protect children from gun violence. He announced that Asa Hutchinson, former Arkansas congressman and DEA chief, will lead the NRA's effort in developing a "school shield program". Following the event, several in the media criticized LaPierre's statements, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial board and The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg. The New York Post, usually considered editorially conservative, labelled LaPierre a "Gun Nut!" on its December 22, 2012 cover. Others also criticized LaPierre's remarks, including Republican Party strategist and pollster Frank Luntz and pundit Ann Coulter.

Appearances

LaPierre hosts Crime Strike, a syndicated weekly television program which advocates gun use for the purpose of self-defense and highlights situations where people have used their guns against criminal suspects. In October 2006, LaPierre instituted a weekly online podcast on the NRAnews.com website called What They Didn't Tell You Today. Every weekday, LaPierre gives a short broadcast about gun rights.

Supports

Opposes

Books

LaPierre has authored several books about topics including shooting practices, terrorism, gun safety, and crime.