Earlier this year, we reported on Gun Owners of America director Larry Pratt’s response to hearing that Rep. Carolyn Maloney was afraid of getting shot by a member of his group.
“That’s probably a healthy fear for them to have,” Pratt said of members of Congress who fear assassination, in an interview with radio host Bill Cunningham. “You know, I’m kind of glad that’s in the back of their minds. Hopefully they’ll behave.”
This week, the quote made it into Rolling Stone’s great profile of Pratt’s career of extremism and caught the eye of Mark Kelly, whose wife Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically injured in an assassination attempt in 2011.
Understandably upset by Pratt’s comfort with threats of gun violence to members of Congress, Kelly issued statement yesterday urging lawmakers to reject contributions from GOA.
“No matter where you stand on policies that reduce gun violence, Larry Pratt’s view that our leaders should live in fear of gun violence is an affront to all responsible gun owners, Gabby and me included,” Kelly wrote.
“No candidate for office should accept the support of Larry Pratt’s organization again.”
UPDATE: Rep. Maloney has called for an investigation into Pratt’s comments, which, of course, GOA has responded to by accusing her of being “foolish” and lacking an “understanding…regarding key historical documents.”
