NRA leader Wayne LaPierre visits Kittery

In a historic decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the District of Columbia’s ban on handgun possession was unconstitutional. For the first time in the nation’s history, the Supreme Court definitively affirmed that the Second Amendment protects a citizen’s right to possess a gun for self defense.   

Now, gun advocates want to make sure D.C. abides by the court’s ruling. A group of Congressmen introduced the Second Amendment Enforcement Act on July 31. Sponsors of the bill have a powerful ally in their corner: the National Rifle Association of America. N.R.A. executive vice president and chief executive officer Wayne LaPierre was in Kittery, Maine, on Aug. 6 to sign and give away free copies of his 2007 book, “The Essential Second Amendment Guide.”
“We’ve been on the offense, we just gotta stay on the offense,” LaPierre assured fans in the Kittery Trading Post’s shooting sports department.

A long line of eager fans wound between rifle racks and beneath taxidermic mountings of stags, black bears, coyotes and wild turkeys. LaPierre was exceedingly personable, chatting amiably with every person he met and asking to hear their concerns. “Let me know if you see something we ought to be doing that we’re not doing,” he told fans as he shook their hands.

One of those fans was Walter Brooks, a Kittery resident and 50-year member of the N.R.A. “They’re a good organization. They help people if you’re in trouble,” Brooks said, noting that he subscribes to the N.R.A.’s monthly magazine.

According to Andrew Arulanandam, director of public affairs for the N.R.A.’s Institute for Legislative Action, LaPierre spends about two-thirds of each year traveling the country, serving as the N.R.A.’s chief spokesperson. He called LaPierre “a walking encyclopedia” of gun ownership rights. “He has his finger on the pulse of gun owners and sportsmen all across the country,” Arulanandam said.

Formed in 1871, the N.R.A. currently has close to 4 million members. The organization has experienced unprecedented growth under LaPierre’s leadership. Its Institute for Legislative Action was established in 1975. “We are the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights group,” Arulanandam said.

With the Second Amendment Enforcement Act, the N.R.A. is fighting to “have Congress compel the District of Columbia to respect the Bill of Rights and respect the ruling of the Supreme Court,” Arulanandam said. The organization also continually pushes for legislation to protect the rights of hunters, eliminate bans on guns and ammunition and make information readily available to gun owners, he said. 

With a cover illustration depicting soldiers in the 1775 Battle at Lexington Green, LaPierre’s “Second Amendment Guide” is meant to educate readers about the protections afforded under the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

“You have a right to own a gun for the defense of family and home. You have a right to own a gun for hunting, shooting or collecting. You have the right to own a gun to break the chains of tyranny,” LaPierre writes in the pocket-sized book’s preface. “Our Founding Fathers said it. Our Constitution guarantees it. Our courts affirm it. Our laws protect it.”

LaPierre accuses a number of politicians, bureaucrats and media members of trying to strip gun owners of their rights and treating them like “some lunatic fringe.” His book is filled with facts, figures and anecdotes to help gun advocates argue their points in a variety of contexts.

Gun possession has always been a controversial topic in the United States, with many people blaming gun ownership for violent crimes. Concerns of gun opponents have flared in the wake of tragedies like the Columbine High School shootings of 1999 and, more recently, the Virginia Tech shootings of April, 2007. Film director Michael Moore targeted former N.R.A. president and actor Charlton Heston in his controversial 2002 documentary, “Bowling for Columbine.”

Heston, who was elected president of the N.R.A. in 1998, died in April. “With Heston gone, I end up doing most of the speeches these days,” LaPierre said in Kittery.

A graduate of Boston College with a master’s degree in American government and politics, LaPierre is an avid hunter and has authored at least five books, including “Guns, Freedom and Terrorism” in 2003 and “The Global War on Your Guns” in 2006.

N.R.A. opponents seemed to stay away from the Trading Post last week, as dozens of men, women and even children lined up to meet LaPierre.

Another outspoken and controversial gun advocate will be in the Seacoast next week. Rocker and long-time N.R.A. member Ted Nugent will take the stage at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom on Tuesday, Aug. 19.