The National Rifle Association has long warned that expanding gun background checks would ultimately lead to a national gun registry, the true goal of advocates seeking to regulate firearms.
Wayne LaPierre, the head of the nation’s top gun lobby, on Friday floated the specter of foreign hackers originating in China as yet another reason America would be better off without expanded checks on backgrounds of prospective gun purchasers.
“What’s the point of registering lawful gun owners anyway?” asked LaPierre at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. “So newspapers can print those names and addresses for criminals and gangs to access? So that list can be hacked by foreign entities like the Chinese, who recently hacked Pentagon computers? So that list can be handed over to the Mexican government that, oh by the way, has already requested it.”
He added: “In the end, there are only two reasons for government to create that federal registry of gun owners — to tax them and to take them.”
Bipartisan talks to expand background checks in the Senate have currently hit a wall, with almost no Republican support and even dimmer prospects for a 60-vote filibuster proof majority.
“When registration fails, then the next step is gun confiscation,” said Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Charles Grassley (R-IA) on Tuesday.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
