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Published January 14, 2015
This is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," March 18, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GLENN BECK, HOST: The only Frenchman I like is Wayne LaPierre. He's with us now from the NRA, the National Rifle Association, because the Second Amendment is under fire.
When you go to — have you ever gone to like get-together with your French relatives, Wayne? To those LaPierre picnics?
WAYNE LAPIERRE, CEO, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: I have to tell you, I wish I could find them, to tell you the truth.
BECK: Do you? They would be like, I don't know what you are doing with this gun thing, Mr. Wayne... spit on you.
LAPIERRE: Yes. George Carlin used to make a lot of the fun of the name.
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BECK: Really? OK. So, Wayne, the Second Amendment is under fire in a couple of things. We knew that they were going to try to bring the assault weapon ban back. But now, they're blaming it on Mexico and they're saying that the United States — all these assault weapons are just going right across the border, that are being sold here.
Can you clear this up a little bit?
LAPIERRE: I sure can. You know, you hear this figure in the media and newspapers, 90 percent of these guns in Mexican drug cartels they are getting from the United States. It's a lie.
The NRA is one of the largest law enforcement organizations in the country. I talk to law enforcement officers at the federal, state and local level in the last couple of weeks, they all say the same thing — Wayne, the great overwhelming bulk of these guns the Mexican cartels are getting are not coming from the U.S., they are coming from Central America, Guatemala ...
BECK: No.
LAPIERRE: ... corruption in the Mexican army, Mexican police forces. A lot of them are Russian. A lot of them are bought on the illegal international black market, but they're not coming from the United States.
ATF, Diane Feinstein was up there yesterday in the Senate hearing batting around 90 percent, 90 percent, 90 percent. ATF said we can't substantiate that. We see nowhere near that number. In fact, the truth is, the Mexican government will not even give the U.S. government the serial numbers on these guns and the American public deserves the truth.
BECK: OK.
LAPIERRE: And they're not getting it.
BECK: All right. So tell me about the .50 calibers that apparently came from the United States that they're talking about.
LAPIERRE: You know the ironic thing on that — a lot of .50 calibers were sold to the Mexican government in the '90s. And I bet if you check, a lot of it is corruption in the Mexican government as to where those .50 calibers are from.
BECK: Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
LAPIERRE: Somebody ought to call.
BECK: You are saying that we sold the Mexicans .50 caliber machine guns and ...
LAPIERRE: The Mexican army.
BECK: The Mexican army. I don't know anybody who would believe you that there would be corruption in Mexico that might — to have those Mexican arms go from the army into the drug cartels. That's preposterous, Wayne LaPierre.
LAPIERRE: You got it. And somebody ought to ask the U.S. companies, hey, how many have you been asked to trace here in the U.S.? I mean, that's my bet as to what's going on on that.
BECK: OK.
LAPIERRE: I mean, look, the whole idea that you're going to — that the answer to this is diminishing the Second Amendment freedom of American citizens is preposterous. It will not affect these drug cartels. They kill, rape, rob, murder, and have armies the equivalent of these terrorist operations in Pakistan over the Afghan borders. They could care less.
BECK: OK. Wayne, I want to — I want to read you if I have time, a couple of letters and I may only have time for one. This comes in — because I put this story up on The912Project.com, which is kind of grassroots thing where you can go meet other people that think like you and think about values and principles and want to do something to take your country back. And we posted this story, and here is where one of the responses.
"I'm a retired air traffic controller who is extremely concerned that the nation of her youth is rapidly being replaced. Six months ago, it was a different world. Since then, I have not only purchased a handgun, but I joined the NRA. I have written the members of the state legislature regarding their insane attempts to essentially 'card' me for purchasing ammo. If this law is passed, I plan on going down to a local gun shop and purchasing my ammo one bullet at a time and bury their butts in paperwork."
This is from a woman. I will tell you — first of all, full disclosure, I'm a member, I'm a life member of the NRA, and proud to be one.
But tell me, I am seeing more and more women coming out of the woodwork really, really concerned. And I found that odd for the longest while, and I think — I don't know — I think there's maybe something going on with women, that maternal instinct where they're feeling like they got to protect the family a little bit and take care of their kids. Are you seeing anything like that, with membership or anything?
LAPIERRE: Well, we're all seeing one of the greatest freedom movements in the world right now. It's women, men, people all over this country, in one of the worst economies of our lifetime, going out and buying firearms. They are saying — I will protect my family, I will protect my neighborhood, and I will stand up for my rights. And that's happening everywhere.
BECK: Look ...
LAPIERRE: And to these bad guys that break the law, the answer is — enforce the laws on the book.
BECK: Yes. One of the crazy things.
LAPIERRE: In fact, Mike Ross and 65 Democrats wrote a letter to Attorney General Holder this week and said — don't end us more this phony gun legislation up on Capitol Hill. Enforce the laws you have.
BECK: Yes. There's more of it coming. Real quick, I only got about 10 seconds. We have just pulled back on the casings, the little copper casings for — or brass casings for ammunition. It was all being sold as scrap metal to China. That just started happening, and they just stopped doing that today or yesterday.
Do you know anything about that, Wayne? Can you explain that?
LAPIERRE: You know, I've been trying to check that, Glenn. I have not been able to find anything on it. I do know the military used to sell to the civilian market. There was a ...
BECK: Right.
LAPIERRE: I understand there was something that they were not going to do that. I understand today they have reversed that decision.
BECK: Right. The military ...
LAPIERRE: So, I hope they have.
BECK: Yes, from what I understand, they have. They were going to sell it to China — of course, they were — and not let American citizens buy it, but they have just re reversed that, I believe, today. Thank you very much, Wayne. We'll talk again.
LAPIERRE: That's what I heard, too.
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