Can there ever have been a spokesman for a national lobbying group who misread the tea leaves more spectacularly than Wayne LaPierre of the NRA today? Amid calls for new controls on guns and access to guns, the man gave a press conference today in which he advocated placing armed guards in every school, saying ““The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Additionally, he suggested:

the NRA will not follow some of the pro-gun rights politicians in Washington into a new discussion of gun regulations. Instead, the group has created a program designed to usher more guns into schools: NRA School Shield, led by former Arkansas Rep. Asa Hutchison (R). Hutchison was on hand to explain the program, and LaPierre likened it to NRA efforts during the Second World War.

“Our training programs are the most advanced in the world. That expertise must be brought to bear to protect our schools and our children now,” he said. “We did it for the nation’s defense industries and military installations during World War II, and we’ll do it for our schools today.”

What might Hutchison do? He’s charged with “devising a model program including what he described as ‘armed, trained, qualified school security personnel’ — perhaps local volunteers.”

So he’s doubling down on the NRA’s implacable opposition to any curbs on weapons, even semi-automatic ones, and he wants to put guns into schools. In the hands of volunteers! No doubt there will be a great outpouring of people willing to volunteer to get into firefights with lunatics carrying assault weapons. It’s genius, I tell you!

I wonder what kind of people serve on the NRA’s Board of Directors and whether they’re pleased with this man’s performance today.