I just came across on the net some comments made by NRA chieftain Wayne LaPierre last Constitution Day (September 17, 1999) at the Hyatt Regency in Long Beach, CA. Thought you might enjoy them.
"Thank you. I really appreciate the chance to be here with you today, and all the good work that the Claremont Institute does....
"Anyway, I was reading in the new issue of Harper's Magazine that's on the newsstands right now, an article by Daniel Lazare titled 'Your Constitution is Killing You.' This article contains a number of really shocking statements. Lazare states in Harper's, among other things, that it could be that the Constitution is not the greatest plan, that it contains notions repugnant to modern sensibility, and then goes on to say, and I am quoting, 'Why must we subordinate ourselves to a 208-year-old law that if the latest scholarship is correct' -- and what he means by that is the Second Amendment is an individual right to bear arms, that's what all the scholars are saying, and he even goes on to say something that drives liberals nuts and they can not bear to hear. He goes on to say that is contrary to what we want. So let me read that again: 'Why must we subordinate ourselves to a 208-year-old law, that if the latest scholarship is correct is contrary to what we want.' Now, when you hear that, you begin to get the idea of what this whole [is] debates really about. . . .
"This isn't about President Clinton's attempt to make and force every American that owns a gun to put that into federal computers and register it. . . . It is not about Al Gore's attempt to require every American to obtain a federal I.D. card before you can own a gun, and I assure you Americans are against that. And it's not even about Janet Reno's attempt to require government tests before you can own a gun, and you can bet no one will ever get through that test, I can assure you. This isn't about Bill Bradley's ban on all handguns, totally forgetting 2.5 million people use a gun to defend themselves from criminals who ought to be in jail that we don't put in jail. It's not even about child-safety locks, or gun-show checks, Juvenile Brady Bills or Diane Feinstein's ban on importing magazine clips. . . .
"No it's not about any of that. . . . This document right here, that's what these people are really after. The Constitution of the United States of America. That's their target. . . . And what they really want is to redefine freedom in this country. And they want to redefine the way we structure our rights in this country. They think they're more powerful than the single most powerful declaration of freedom in the history of the world. They are arrogant. They think they have better ideas and they are smarter than Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Tom Paine, Patrick Henry, George Mason.
"No, this isn't about licensing. It isn't about registration. It's not about any of that. It's about a creeping contagion to disarm free people, to restructure the foundations on which this very country is built. You see it in other countries, from Britain to Australia to Canada to South America. . . . What this is about is disarming a law abiding free people in the last country where citizens have a right to bear arms. The last bastion of freedom, and they are willing to rewrite the Constitution of the United States to do it.
"Let me conclude by reading to you out of the October issue of Harper's magazine, the very ending of it. 'So why must we subordinate ourselves to a 208-year-old law that, if the latest scholarship is correct, is contrary to what the democratic majority believes in the best interest? Why can't we create the kind of society we want rather than what they wanted? They are dead and buried and will not be around to suffer the consequences, we the living will.' And then they go on to say -- it gets better, but it really tells you what this whole debate is about -- 'in other words, the Constitution's hold on our society is so complete that it controls the way we discuss the debate, even the way we think. Americans are unable to conceive of an alternative framework, to think outside of the cooperate box. Other countries are free to change their Constitution when it becomes necessary. In fact, with the exception of Luxembourg, Norway, and Great Britain there is not one advanced nation that has not thoroughly revamped its Constitution since 1900. If they can do it why can't we, why must Americans remain slaves of the past.'
"There it is, right there. That's what they are after. You know what I say (ripping magazine) -- this is what I say - and as my good friend Charleton Heston says, 'from my cold dead hands.' And to Al Gore and Bill Clinton and Janet Reno, I'll say this: A free people, free Americans will see you at the polls on Election Day 2000. Thank you very much. Thank you.