The NRA's Question-Free Press Conference And The Media's Responsibility

NRAThe National Rifle Association refused to answer questions at what it had claimed was a “press conference” today in response to the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

Instead, NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre gave a speech calling for armed police officers at all schools and blaming violent video games for mass shootings, rather than the ability of those shooters to obtain a firearm.

Notably, an armed police officer was present at Columbine High School at the time of the mass shooting there. After attempting to fire on one of the shooters with his pistol, he was quickly pinned down by the greater firepower of the shooter's assault weapon.

The Washington Post has noted that data show no correlation between video game spending per capita and gun-related homicides. But the NRA's reaction is consistent with that of Fox News.

This puts special pressure on the hosts of NBC's Meet The Press and CBS' Face The Nation, who will host LaPierre and NRA president David Keene on Sunday, to ask the questions that the rest of the press corps was unable to.

Any such interview should address the conspiratorial language that LaPierre typically uses in speaking to his base, notably his claim that President Obama plans to use his second term to “erase the Second Amendment from the Bill of Rights.”