https://nypost.com/2021/04/28/video-shows-nra-head-wayne-lapierre-struggling-to-kill-elephant/
Video shows NRA head Wayne LaPierre struggling to kill wounded elephant
Newly surfaced video shows the head of the National Rifle Association struggling to kill a now-endangered African bush elephant from just feet away.
Wayne LaPierre appeared to have trouble with basic marksmanship when he bThe guide instead suggests Tony Makris, who is the host of the NRA-sponsored TV series “Under Wild Skies,” finish the job and he fires the final shot.
Savannah elephants were recently listed as “endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Endangered Species.
Conservation advocates condemned LaPierre for shooting the now-endangered species.
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“Savannah elephants were just declared endangered by international experts, and these intelligent beings certainly shouldn’t be used as paper targets by an inept marksman,” Tanya Sanerib, international legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement to USA Today.
“It’s sickening to see LaPierre’s brutal, clumsy slaughter of this beautiful creature. No animal should suffer like this. We’re in the midst of a poaching epidemic, and rich trophy hunters like the NRA chief are blasting away at elephants while the international community calls for stiffer penalties for poachers — what message does that send?”lasted the savannah elephant from feet away on a 2013 hunting trip to Botswana, according to a clip published by The New Yorker and The Trace on Tuesday.
In the footage, LaPierre fires once and asks the guide, “Did we get him?”
The guide is seen pointing out where he should aim his shots to kill the animal, which is wounded and lying on its side.
LaPierre fires two more shots at close range, prompting the guide to remark, “I’m not sure where you’re shooting.”
The guide then points out a target near the elephant’s ear, but LaPierre fires and misses, footage shows.
NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam confirmed LaPierre joined the hunt in Botswana and “the corresponding video footage was for an outdoor TV show the NRA once sponsored,” the Washington Post reported.
Arulanandam insisted the trip was “fully permitted and conducted in accordance with all rules and regulations.”
“The video offers an incomplete portrayal of the experience — and fails to express the many ways this activity benefits the localcommunity and habitat,” Arulanandam said.