The National Rifle Association is this morning holding a news conference at which officials of the organization are expected to speak about last Friday's mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., and their views on what, if any, laws need to be enacted or amended to deal with gun violence in the nation.
We're listening in and posting updates. Be sure to hit your "refresh" button to see our latest additions. We're also adding a player to the top of this post. We'll stream audio of the news conference there. Note: That's a live feed and NPR is not "anchoring" the coverage. So there may be pauses or audio issues that we can't control.
Among other options for following the news conference: The NRA plans to stream it here; and C-SPAN.org plans to do the same here.
Update at 11:12 a.m. ET. More Pointing At The Media:
Wayne LaPierre, NRA's executive vice president, asks why the news media doesn't do more to call attention to an industry that "sells and sows violence against its own people" รข€" the manufacturers of "vicious, violent video games."
Update at 11:10 a.m. ET. LaPierre Points At News Media:
The next Adam Lanza [the killer in Newtown], says NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, is already "planning his attack."
"How many more copycats are waiting in the wings for their moment of fame from a national media machine that rewards them?" he asks.
And LaPierre notes there is no "active national database of the mentally ill."
Update at 11:06 a.m. ET. Protester With Banner Removed:
As Wayne LaPierre, NRA's executive vice president, was speaking, a protester stood up with a banner saying "NRA Killing Our Kids." As the man is led from the room, he shouts that the NRA is "killing our children." LaPierre pauses as the man is escorted out.
Update at 11:05 a.m. ET. Shocked At The Horror:
At the opening, NRA President David Keene says that "like most Americans," NRA officials were "shocked" by the shootings in Newtown that left 20 school children and six adults dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
He says the organization will not be taking questions today, but will be trying to lay out its views on what needs to be done.
Wayne LaPierre, NRA's executive vice president and best-known spokesman, comes to the microphone to express the organization's "horror, outrage [and] grief" and to say the NRA offers its "earnest prayers" to the families and victims.
