Wayne LaPierre States Mass Shootings Can Be Perfectly Safe When Carried Out By A Trained, Responsible Gun Owner

https://www.theonion.com/wayne-lapierre-states-mass-shootings-can-be-perfectly-s-1848983158



HOUSTON—Addressing the massacre that occurred at an elementary school in the state only three days earlier, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre told attendees at the organization’s annual meeting Friday that mass shootings could be perfectly safe when carried out by a trained, responsible gun owner. “By following a few basic gun safety rules, there’s no reason a mass shooting should hurt anyone,” said LaPierre, who lamented that the recent string of shootings in Uvalde, TX; Buffalo, NY; and Laguna Woods, CA, among countless others, could have been a stress-free experience for everyone if the gunmen had only enrolled in the right training course. “It’s all about knowing how to properly handle your firearm. That’s why the NRA offers a variety of courses to teach prospective mass shooters the best practices. Gunning down dozens of people can be completely harmless and free of danger, but you’ll never see the left-leaning media covering the safe shootings, will you?” At press time, LaPierre had offered to demonstrate.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/26/nra-uvalde-shooting-trump-cruz-gop/



Nearly a decade ago, the massacre of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school threw the politics of gun violence into a state of suspension for a full week, as conservative politicians waited to hear from the powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, before taking a stand.

This week, after another rampage, at a Texas elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead, Republican lawmakers didn’t wait for the NRA as they lined up within hours to rebuff any proposed gun-control measures.

That dynamic reflects both the recent decline of the NRA’s power and the logical conclusion of its own increasingly hard-line messaging that guns and liberty are inextricable from patriotism and that all gun control is a plot to seize weapons and leave owners defenseless. The NRA, which will host former president Donald Trump at its annual convention Friday in Houston, has been embroiled in lawsuits and infighting for the last four years, taking a toll on its budget and standing in Washington — and also creating space for more-extreme groups to gain traction.

“The NRA is not doing anything around the country anywhere; all their staff lawyered up and are fighting amongst each other,” said Dudley Brown, a gun rights lobbyist who has long criticized the NRA for being too open to compromise. Brown’s rival group, the National Association for Gun Rights, has grown to 75 staff members and a $15 million budget, he said, up from about $6 million in 2019.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/05/16/buffalo-shooting-previous-supermarket-confrontation/



Two months before Payton Gendron allegedly killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo, he was confronted by a security guard at the store during a trip on which he compiled detailed plans of the location, according to a document posted online last month by a writer who identified himself as Gendron.

“I’ve seen you go in and out … What are you doing?” the guard told Gendron on March 8, according to an account in the document. Gendron replied that he was “collecting consensus data” before making excuses and leaving for his car, according to the account, adding: “In hindsight that was a close call.”

The encounter with the guard at the supermarket was described within a 589-page document posted online on April 29. The document refers to the supermarket as “attack area 1” and describes two more Buffalo locations as other attack areas to “shoot all blacks” during an apparent reconnaissance trip that spelled out the travel paths to each one, timing needed for each shootout and the estimate that more than three dozen people would be fatally shot in all.

The document contains numerous photos of Gendron and uses a handle Gendron used on other social media platforms. The messages contain many images of his activities and reference several events in his personal life, such as a speeding ticket, that The Washington Post has confirmed.

Gendron, an 18-year-old from Conklin, N.Y., has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in relation to the attack at the Tops supermarket on Saturday, in which three other people were also injured before Gendron was arrested at the grocery store.

https://heavy.com/news/payton-gendron/



Payton Gendron is the suspect accused of killing at least 10 people at a Tops Friendly Market grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday, May 14, 2022. Gendron was taken into custody at the scene, Buffalo Police said. Three others were wounded. Gendron is facing first-degree murder charges in New York state court and could also face federal charges, including hate crimes, officials said. The names of the victims have not been released yet.

A racist and anti-Semitic manifesto and a Twitch livestream were attributed online to the gunman, but authorities have not verified those accounts. A graphic video emerged that shows bodies lying in the parking lot as law enforcement officers take the suspect into custody. Gendron is from Conklin, New York. He said in the manifesto he is an 18-year-old college student and a self-described white supremacist. Gendron was shot by a security guard, but was not injured because he was wearing body armor, Buffalo Police said at a press conference.

Conklin is more than 200 miles southeast of Buffalo in the Southern Tier region of New York. Gendron included his name in the manifesto and The Associated Press confirmed his identity with law enforcement sources. Gendron appeared in court Saturday night for his arraignment, officials said. He is being held without bail. He is scheduled to return to court in five days, according to authorities. A mugshot has not been released, but photos from the local media show Gendron in court:

https://twitter.com/RonWGRZ/status/1525626924130877440

https://twitter.com/eileenwkbw/status/1525619055012593667

The manifesto, which talks about the extremist far-right white or great replacement theory and includes alt-right 4chan memes and jokes, is similar to ones written by shooters who attacked a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, the Tree of Life synagogue in Pennsylvania and an El Paso, Texas, Walmart in recent years, Yale professor Jason Stanley says.

1. Gendron Is Accused of Wearing Military Gear & Carrying a Rifle Into the Store; a Retired Police Officer Is Among the Dead
2. A Graphic Video Emerged Showing Gendron Being Taken Into Custody, Bodies on the Ground & Another Shows Him Driving Up to the Store
3. The Racist Manifesto Rails About ‘Mass Immigration’ & Describes the Author as ‘the Sole Perpetrator of the Recent Attempted Mass Shooting’
4. Unconfirmed Reports Say the Suspect Streamed the Shooting Live on Twitch Using the Name ‘Jimboboiii’
5. The Suspect Is a New York Native & the State’s Governor Called Him a ‘White Supremacist’ Who Carried Out an ‘Act of Terrorism’