what they want is more restrictions on the law - abiding , " lapierre warned democrats would use the tragedy to push an agenda that went beyond gun control . "
while the nra initially held back from the fray , that changed as a spokeswoman debated survivors of the attack during a heated town hall and national harbor , maryland ( cnn ) the head of the biggest gun lobby in the us has accused democrats of pushing a " socialist " agenda to deprive gun owners of their weapons , in an uncompromising speech just a week after 17 people died in the florida school shooting .
wayne lapierre , ceo of the national rifle association , made no attempt to moderate his message a day after survivors of the parkland shooting faced down lawmakers in a cnn debate and the president at the white house .
 
name - checking a long list of prospective democratic 2020 presidential candidates and lawmakers like sen. chris murphy of connecticut , a leading advocate for gun control measures , and senate minority leader chuck schumer after a week of media silence following the school shooting in florida , the national rifle association has gone on the offensive in its first public response to the massacre , pushing back against law enforcement officials , the media , gun - control advocates and calls for stricter gun laws from the teenage survivors of the attack .
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as the teens who escaped the bloodshed have passionately campaigned for new laws , it appears the politics around the fraught issue of gun control are shifting , with president trump and some conservative lawmakers expressing a willingness to consider at least modest measures .
the gun rights group — a powerful force in american politics — used speeches and videos to try to blunt an emotionally charged wave of calls for new gun restrictions since a gunman armed with an ar-15 rifle killed 17 people at a parkland , fla. , high school .