The US Arms Lobby: 'Our Freedom Is in Danger'

The arms lobby in the U.S. is very strong. Yet even though they are not letting their guard down, they feel constantly under threat from Washington. At stake, of course, is Obama’s desire to pass more restrictive legislation on the possession of weapons (in the meantime, the Senate’s drafted bipartisan reform was passed over). But the last episodes in the news — in Kentucky, a five-year-old boy killed his two-year-old sister with a rifle for children — don’t help relax the mind.

“Our freedom is under attack like never before,” said Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association, in his opening remarks in Houston, Texas at the most powerful weapons lobby’s annual convention. “When a deranged criminal murders innocent children, they blame us.”

Republican Senator Ted Cruz said, to great applause, that the vote of April 17 was “your victory, it’s the victory of the American people. But the battle is not over, we need your support.” The battle, therefore, continues. It can’t be otherwise for the champions of firearms, who use the Second Amendment as the base of all of their arguments.

Also speaking out on this issue was the Texas governor, Republican Rick Perry. Before his speech, a video was broadcast on the giant screen behind him showing Perry shooting eight human figures with a machine gun. “Someone clearly impaired, or filled with hate, commits a horrific crime … [and] people who hate guns, and gun owners, begin another campaign to add a new set of federal gun laws to the books …. but the correct response to these tragedies is not another federal law.” In the end, Perry added, “They do nothing but make it harder for law-abiding Americans to own guns.”

Wayne LaPierre, outgoing vice president of the NRA, attacked those who ask for new laws: “They use tragedy to try to blame us, to shame us into compromising our freedom for their political agenda. They want to change America, our culture and our values. But this is America.” Then, to jubilant cries from the crowd, he asked, “How many Bostonians wished they had a gun two weeks ago?”

Finally, Rick Santorum, former Republican candidate in the primaries, also spoke. The Pennsylvania senator harshly attacked the Old Continent, saying that it was a dying culture with no freedom or rights.

The participation of Sarah Palin was also well applauded, the US vice presidential candidate from 2008 on John McCain’s ticket. “Second Amendment rights are personal to me,” said Palin, presenting herself in a tight t-shirt emblazoned with the words “Women Hunt.”

A survey by the Pew Research Center last month showed that Americans remain divided on the arms issue, with 49 percent who want to maintain the current situation and 45 percent in favor of more controls and restrictions.