PM POLITICS NRA Press Conference: Wayne LaPierre Calls For Armed Police Officers At Every School 12/21/24112 14 RA " KRUPS -L - 47- 4.sT VA KW By PHILIP ELLIOTT, The ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON -- The nation's largest gun-rights lobby is calling for armed police officers to be posted in every American school to stop the next killer "waiting in the wings." The National Rifle Association broke its silence Friday on last week's shooting rampage at a Connecticut elementary school that left 26 children and staff dead. The group's top lobbyist, Wayne LaPierre, said at a Washington news conference that, quote, 'The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." The press conference comes one week after the mass shootings that killed 26 people at a Connecticut elementary school - 20 of them children. The group returned to the spotlight as Congress prepares to consider tighter restrictions on firearms in the new year. The 4.3 million-member National Rifle Association largely disappeared from public debate after the shootings in Newtown, Conn., choosing atypical silence as a strategy as the nation sought answers after the rampage. The NRA took down its Facebook page and kept silent on Twitter. Unlike its actions in the wake of other mass shootings, the group did not put out a statement of condolence for the victims while simultaneously defending the rights of gun owners. Page I 1 of 2 EFTA01113058