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NRA chief Wayne LaPierre on elephant hunt (still from video of the "New Yorker")
Photo: The New Yorker / youtube
After massacres in the USA, calls for stricter gun laws have been raised again and again.
And regularly little or nothing is left of the initiatives.
This is also due to the influential National Rifle Association (NRA).
The five-million-strong association is the largest lobbying organization for firearms possession in the United States - and has great political influence.
Now its managing director, Wayne LaPierre, is under criticism for a public video of an elephant hunt.
The NRA financed a stay in Africa for LaPierre in 2013, during which a promotional series called "Under Wild Skies" was filmed.
The show was intended to popularize the NRA with hunters.
The magazine "The New Yorker" and the non-governmental organization "Trace" have now published unsent material that shows LaPierre trying to kill an elephant at close range - and fails to do so despite several shots.
The video shows the NRA chief bringing down an elephant with one shot while hunting in Botswana.
LaPierre and his companions approach the animal, which is already immobile on the ground.
The NRA chief is said to fire the coup de grace at close range.
He does not succeed in doing this after three attempts.
The camera mostly shows LaPierre, apart from the picture you can hear the wounded animal groan.
A companion explains to the influential NRA lobbyist how best to position himself - and where to aim.
"I think it's not done yet," he says to LaPierre after LaPierre fires a second miss.
Eventually one of the companions kills the elephant.
The powerful gun lobbyist, bad shooter?
This is a PR debacle for the NRA, among other things because the organization always emphasizes that only good people with guns can stop bad people with guns - and obviously assumes that the "good guys" are of course great shooters.
In addition, animal rights activists criticize LaPierre for dealing with the animal.
According to the reports, LaPierre's wife also shot an elephant on the same day - this can also be seen in the video.
Among other things, Susan LaPierre cuts off the tip of the tail of the killed animal and holds it up like a trophy.
Over 331 million people live in the United States, and it is estimated that there are around 393 million privately owned firearms.
In 2020, approximately 42 percent of U.S. households will have at least one firearm.
The United States has six times as many firearm homicides per million inhabitants as Canada and almost 16 times as many as Germany.
The NRA donates millions of dollars to politicians annually.
The organization evaluates their voting behavior on gun laws online.
In 2016, the NRA donated over $ 30 million to Donald Trump's election campaign alone, more than any other lobbying organization.
According to "The New Yorker", LaPierre and his wife were aware of the possible criticism of their elephant hunt even then.
The feet of the killed elephant were both brought to the USA as trophies, they are said to have been made into stools.
In order not to cause a stir, however, the import was carried out secretly.
The video of the elephant hunt comes at an extremely inopportune time for the NRA: The organization must fear for its existence.
The judiciary of the state of New York opened a case against the NRA, LaPierre and three other high-ranking officials of the organization last August.
They allegedly embezzled membership fees and donations for personal expenses.
The NRA filed for bankruptcy to avoid conflict with the New York judiciary.
During this maneuver, however, she suffered a setback in January.
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