A 'Security Blanket' for American SchoolchildrenThe response to an armed criminal is not to take away his gun, but rather to give him a good person a gun – at least according to Wayne LaPierre, director of the National Rifle Association. In his response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, he said the only way to protect schoolchildren from shootings was to have armed security forces in every school. This speech is what publicists call “manipulative work”. His goal is simple: defend the NRA. Overall, reactions to the speech ranged from mild surprise to outrage. Most articles point out that LaPierre is the scapegoat of the government and the media, which is undoubtedly true, but this statement is too simplistic. A closer look at the methods used to place blame reveals remarkable and complex metaphors that constitute a two-pronged defense. LaPierre first disassociates the organization from the shooters, then presents the traditionally accepted authorities as the enemy and the NRA as a white knight; Together, these tactics convey a narrative of oppression that victimizes the organization and changes who the public sees as the “bad guy.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay To avoid calls for legislation and preserve their interests, LaPierre must dissociate the NRA from violence and the actions of the killers. He characterizes them as otherworldly predators, creating an apocalyptic scene in which the state participates. His language is distinguished by its extremism and insistence. Killers are omnipresent, with an innate instinct like “predators”, who act “evil” and “crazy”. They are “real monsters” led by demons. “Demonized,” which has its roots in demonic possession of the body (DCO), suggests that even removing guns from the situation would not prevent all potential harm to society. While such dramatic language naturally vilifies the shooter, it also polarizes the gun-owning community. In this case, the only alternative to being a demon is to being human. Thus, the language presents most gun owners and NRA members as rational and not motivated by base impulses like shooters seeking prey. His language is so effective in separating these populations that he can argue that gun laws are unfairly passed against “peaceful and lawful people,” even after his descriptions of the killers. If the shooters are hot-blooded predators, the state is their cold-blooded counterpart. . LaPierre connects the perpetrators' violence to the actions of the government, the first people people might turn to in a crisis. For example, he claims that Obama has "zeroed out" emergency school policies, echoing his earlier statements that killers "leave their mark." It presents the president as shooting a metaphorical bullet at the well-being of citizens, in the same way that killers shoot innocent people. With this language, gun control advocates become violent and calculating. Tax language permeates his descriptions. They “invest” and collude to “inflict maximum chaos with minimum risk,” and the media is engaged in a “race to the bottom.” Such phrases reflect actions designed to cause systematic harm. These parallel characterizations of the government, media, and potential shooters use language associated withweapons to reclaim the terror of shooting at his adversaries. LaPierre simultaneously engenders a paranoia that breeds apocalyptic visions. However, the fear he inspires is effective because it is targeted: he directs it specifically against the agents he vilifies (e.g. the media). Some of his scare tactics are generic, such as when he compares society to a body in which criminals "spread like a cancer" and are therefore intractable, or to the equally uncontrollable process of "maturation." The term "national media machine" inspires images of weapons and destruction at the hands of an abstract entity. Other expressions evoke food metaphors, such as "recipe", "filling" and "toxic mixture". In reference to the state of the nation, these phrases suggest an agent who creates dangerous conditions. After all, someone has to fill, mix and create a recipe. Additionally, he describes hundreds of other potential shooters as "waiting in the wings." This theatrical metaphor evokes a scene that is scripted, written, directed and performed by a variety of actors. No one is safe from LaPierre's accusations: everyone from the media to shareholders to business leaders to lawmakers is "complicit" in the harm being done to America's children. They are “enablers”, acting as “corrupt” “co-conspirators”, who “shock”, “violate” and hide truths from the public. Implied collusion is present in abundance and fuels conspiracy and paranoia. Working in conjunction with gun metaphors, LaPierre imagines not a broken society, but one deliberately manipulated by malevolent forces that allow shooters to take center stage. Criticism of these forces forces the public to consider an alternative: the National Rifle Association. . He describes the children and the organization in similar terms, and his victimization therefore carries a sense of innocence. The contrasts between the latter and the first "conspirators" are so extreme that they become painfully obvious. Sandy Hook victims are “beloved,” “innocent,” “vulnerable,” and “defenseless.” LaPierre uses the same language to describe the NRA and connect the two. He says the government is "consumed with fear and hatred of the NRA" and has "denied us the right...to protect ourselves." Legislation is being “imposed” against their will, and he can “imagine the shocking headlines” that unfairly turn the public against the organization. Ironically, LaPierre equates guns with benevolence and reimagines guns as protection. We care about the president, for example, so we guard him with “armed Secret Service agents.” The same goes for banks, airports, offices, power plants and courts. LaPierre's most egregious suggestion is when he calls for the establishment of a "security apparatus" consisting of armed security at every school. If you care about something, you have to protect it – in this case, by surrounding it with weapons. He also says that dedication and courage can be “deployed” much like parachutes delivering supplies. In fact, on the last page, he uses that word no less than five times in reference to the organization. Instead of graphic images of firearms, it uses military language associated with authority, control and security. It re-associates the military and guns, and therefore the NRA, with bravery. Another example is his depiction of the Sandy Hook school principal being forced to "protect" the schoolchildren, an outdated and weak form of protection compared to Adam Lanza's Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle. Compared to self-defense