On Friday, Dec 21, the NRA Wayne LaPierre 's issued a bombshell in a press conference by declaring that the NRA was supporting armed guards in schools. The NRA announced they were having Asa Hutchinson, a former congressman, and served various senior roles in the Bush Administration ( 2001-2005) to head the NRA’s effort to install armed guards in schools. Hutchinson later stated that other gun control wouldn’t make a difference ,and seemingly implied the NRA would fight any other gun control.
David Keene, NRA president, was on Face the Nation on Sunday, Dec 23, 2012., and he stated that he was in Israel last week and the Israelis had armed guards at every school because of an incident in the 1970's. He then went on to say this is the example of why the NRA demanded the federal government should supply armed guards in every US school and arming the teachers. And that no other changes in guns laws are required.
Let's check Keene's basic premises for accuracy, I believe what is below is true( but I did not have a lot of time to really check):
Checking Keene's words:
1. I believe the 1970's incident was the Ma'alot massacre. This was a terrorist attack in 1974 which included a two-day hostage-taking of 115 people which ended in the deaths of over 25 hostages. It began when three armed Palestinian terrorists of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine entered Israel from Lebanon. Soon afterwards they attacked a van, killing two Israeli Arab women while injuring a third and entered an apartment building in the town of Ma'alot, where they killed a couple and their four-year-old son. From there, they headed for the Netiv Meir elementary school, where they took more than 115 people (including 105 children) hostage on 15 May 1974, in Ma'alot.. The hostage-takers soon issued demands for the release of 23 Palestinian militants from Israeli prisons, or else they would kill the students. On the second day of the standoff, a unit of the Golani Brigade stormed the building. During the takeover, the hostage-takers killed the children with grenades and automatic weapons. Ultimately, 25 hostages, including 22 children, were killed and 68 more were injured in this terrorist attack. REPEAT terrorist attack
2. Yes, there are armed guards at Israeli schools, BUT I am told, the parents pay the guards approximately $20 per student per month.(This is a bothersome item- I can only find one creditable reference)
3. Israel has universal military service of BOTH MEN and WOMEN. Men serve three years in the military, while women serve two. The IDF women who volunteer for several combat positions often serve for three years, due to the longer period of training. While women are practically never called up in the reserves, men are possibly called up to active duty for a month until age of 43-45. Young people carrying M16 rifles – soldiers either on their way back or coming home from their military base – are a common sight on main streets in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Thus in the Israeli teacher pool you have both male and female who are trained and knowledgeable of weapons.
NBC's Meet the Press, had NRA's Wayne LaPierre also on Dec 23, and he was saying similar.
Concern:
The NRA is presently doing a mass marketing, most probably to deflect away from basic issues. They are using "You do not want to have the children hurt, do you" as the marketing concept which is extremely powerful to the uninformed. They want to have all the attention to be place onto having the federal government funding armed guards in schools. This attention also fits a right wing agenda: Where does the federal government funding come from? Not from new taxes of course. Not from defense of course. What's left- yes from Medicaid, Medicare, Social programs, etc, and the excuse is "it's for our children"
Both CBS (Face the Nation) and NBC (Meet the Press), which had the NRA on Dec. 23rd, asked some hard question, but they did not have background on what the NRA was claiming. Thus the NRA is getting national TV time marketing their concepts. No national radio/TV network seems reviewing what the NRA was saying for accuracy, thus the average American will just accept as true what the NRA is saying
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It seems the NRA wants to shape US opinion so that when the Obama recommendations are delivered in late January 2013, the NRA can claim the American people only want the armed guards and the will have public polls to show this. And at the same time the right wing tea baggers will then use this to tie up the US house.
Any realistic pragmatic workable concepts to counter the NRA on this?