A week after refusing to participate in a town hall event at which President Obama responded to both allies and opponents on gun issues, the National Rifle Association is posturing about wanting to debate Obama. “I’ll meet you, for a one-on-one, one-hour debate,“ Wayne LaPierre, the gun lobby group’s president, says over ominous music in a belligerent video. His proposal for the debate involves:
… a mutually agreed-upon moderator, on any network that will take it. No prescreened questions and no gasbag answers. Americans will judge for themselves who they trust, and believe, on this issue. You, or the NRA.
Very tough, Mr. LaPierre.
But the evidence suggests Americans have already judged for themselves. The NRA has its adherents, and NRA adherents can be the kind of dedicated single-issue voters who give politicians something to fear. But the majority of Americans have made up their minds: They support stricter gun laws, particularly for background checks. The NRA may be able to obstruct progress, and I’m sure its membership thrills to the dick-swinging of LaPierre’s video, but it’s defending unpopular positions.