In case you missed it …

At the National Rifle Association’s press conference on
Tuesday, the NRA broke with all protocol at the National Press Club when they
sent about 20 people packing heat to the event.

The Washington Post’s Dana Millbank described the scene
in his column, commenting that NRA spokesman Asa Hutchinson, for whatever
reason, was “protected by more armed guards than a Third World dictator.” These
NRA “gun-lobby goons” — roughly one for every three reporters — fanned out
through the National Press Club, Millbank wrote, “some in uniforms with gun
holsters exposed, others with earpieces and bulges under their suit jackets.”

“In a spectacle that officials at the National Press Club
said they had never seen before, the NRA gunmen directed some photographers not
to take pictures, ordered reporters out of the lobby when NRA officials passed
and inspected reporters’ briefcases before granting them access to the news
conference.”

The NRA’s security guards gained notoriety earlier this
year when, escorting NRA officials to a congressional hearing, they were upbraided
by Capitol authorities for pushing cameramen. The armed “thugs,” according to
Millbank were back on Tuesday.

“The antics gave new meaning to the notion of disarming
your critics.”