NRA Issues 'Enemy List' of Second Amendment Opponents

This is a partial transcript of The Big Story With John Gibson, October 20, 2003, that has been edited for clarity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE MEYERS, ACTOR: That's just groovy, baby. They're going to love me, I know it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN GIBSON, HOST: Shameless attempt to get Austin Powers into the show. Actor Mike Meyers, along with hundreds of celebrities and organizations are finding out that he and they are not loved by the NRA.

The National Rifle Association (search) is putting together a lengthy list of enemies to the Second Amendment.

Wayne Lapierre (search) is executive vice president and CEO of the NRA. The big question at this hour, Wayne: are you shooting yourself in the foot with an enemy's list? Even [Richard] Nixon figured out that's a bad idea.

WAYNE LAPIERRE, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: Hi, John. No, I wouldn't call it an enemy's list. Look, our members want to know who in the celebrity community is opposed to the Second Amendment and opposed to the constitutional freedom of Americans to hold fire arms.

It kind of puts a permanent stain on the way our members feel about them. They don't want to buy their movies. They don't want to buy their songs. They don't want to support their careers. And they cherish freedom that much and they're willing to stand up for it. I think it is a good thing.

GIBSON: Look at this list you've got here. Dr. Joyce Brothers (search), Candice Bergen, Walter Cronkite (search)… Michelle Pfeiffer… Moon Zappa, the Temptations, of all people. Then you have… Hallmark, the Sara Lee Corporation, Ben & Jerry — I kind of expected that — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. You know, when you put out a list that big, Wayne, it invites the people looking at it to say, “Well, maybe some of these people think like I think.”

LAPIERRE: Well, we've spent 25 years highlighting the people that agree with us in the celebrity community. We've run ads for the NRA highlighting people like Tom Selleck, Nolan Ryan, Carl Malone, people like that. But our members also want to know who's against them. And if we say something that's inappropriate and not correct, we'll apologize if people contact us. But our intention here is to be accurate, not inaccurate.

A lot of these celebrities have made careers on TV making millions celebrating gun violence in TV and in the movies. And we're not going to let them be hypocrites. By God, the NRA has spent $20 million a year teaching gun safety to kids and teaching kids how to be safe around firearms. And then these celebrities get on the movies and on TV and show them the exact opposite.

GIBSON: It goes beyond the celebrities. On your list here, I am reading of the list again, the AFL-CIO, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children's Defense Fund… the United States Catholic Conference, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the YWCA.

Once again, it seems like you have put out such an extensive list that there's something there for everybody to say, “Well, maybe I don't agree with the AFL-CIO, but maybe I do agree with the United States Catholic Conference.”

LAPIERRE: Or maybe they agree with the National Rifle Association and they don't agree that a lot of these Washington elites that are with these organizations and their Washington office are even taking these types of positions.

So, when they put these organizations on record in opposition of the constitutional freedom, you bet the NRA is going to get in their face. We're going to take them on and we're going to let the American public know about it, because in the final analysis, John, the American public treasures their freedom to hold firearms and their constitutional freedoms in their country and they don't want ...

GIBSON: Two things before I run out of time with you, Wayne, anybody call you here and demand to be taken off your list or are they proud to be on it? And number two, what do you expect people to do with this information?

LAPIERRE: Well, as I've said, I mean, there are 90 million firearms owners in this country. There are 20 million people that hunt. The American public overwhelmingly supports their freedom to own a firearm. And they don't want to buy their products. They don't want to go to their movies and they don't want to support their careers. And I say God bless them. That's why we still have these freedoms in the United States.

GIBSON: Wayne Lapierre, the NRA. Wayne, thanks for coming on. Appreciate it.

LAPIERRE: Hey, thanks, John.

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