(applause) something is wrong. >> the national rifle association, target of much anger in colorado. >> narrator: as it happened, just blocks away, the nra was gathering for its long planned annual convention. >> gun enthusiasts insist there is no connection between the columbine tragedy and weapons. >> narrator: inside, top executives of the nra weighed how to respond. they issued a public statement of sympathy and then sent out their most famous member: charlton heston. (cheers and applause) >> thank you, thank you, thank you. >> to this day, when i would look at charlton heston, i didn't see the president of the nra. i saw moses. you couldn't have picked a better caricature of who you wanted speaking with that stentorian voice of his. >> america must stop this predictable pattern of reaction. when an isolated, terrible event occurs, our phones ring, demanding that the nra explain the inexplicable. why us? because their story needs a villain. >> narrator: despite the shooting, the nra stayed focused on its core beliefs. >> the base of the national rifle association believes so strong

welcome back several penns pennsylvania cities are fighting back after being sued by the national rifle associationng it violates the constitution. >> reporter: the national rifle association is suing the cities of lancaster, philadelphia and another, while two other groups are suing pennsylvania's capital, harrisburg. the suits filed days after a state law went in effect allowing gun owners and groups to challenge local gun laws. pennsylvania has barred local officials from passing their own gun measures signs 197 had. -- 1974 the law was rarely enforced. over the years, city and towns enacted laws stricter than those. when how's bill 80 was brought into law, it set a precedent over firearms and says gun owners don't have to show they were harmed by an ordinance to win in court. >> according to chris cox, the director of n.r.a.'s institute for legal action the lead ordnances do not... >> pennsylvania -- >>> in the city of lancaster, population of less that 60,000, half of which is aimish the n.r.a. is challenging or-daneses that -- ordinance that a missing firearm arm must be reported within three

>> the descendants of wayne lapiere the executive director of the national rifle association, becamegher and tougher with the debate he had with bill clinton in the 1990s. these crises, columbine gabby giffords sandy hook, the stronger the nra is at the point of maximum peril where it seems like gun owners may lose their guns or legislation may be enacted that diminishes their ability to access their guns, suddenly the membership goes up, checks come in, gun sales are up ammo and guns literally flew off the shelf he knows that the national rifle association knows that at the moments of peril if he gets tough the national coalition toughens up and they win. >> larry pratt the executive director of gun owners of america says we can't ever afford to lose one. if they see this as a slippery slope thatfully compromise on gun laws is impossible has had the gun lobby and if you can have a quick answer to this one including the nra do you think they have won the battle? >> yes they have won the battle nationally antonio fundamentally. so the battle ground now will be states, where they'll go

several pennsylvania cities are fighting back after being sued by the national rifle association. the n.r.a. claims the gun law violates the state constitution courtney kealy has the story from philadelphia. >> reporter: the national rifle association is suing the cities of lancaster, philadelphia and pittsburgh pennsylvania two other prosecond amendment groups are suing pennsylvania's capital, harrisburg. the suits filed days after state law went in effect allowing gun owners and group to challenge local gun laws and seek legal fees and other costs. peninsula borrowed local officials from passing gun maresures since 1974, but the law was rarely enforced. a growing number of cities and downs over the years enacted laws. when house bill 80 was signed into law it was the have toingest firearms preexemption. it shows that gun owns do not have to be harmed to win in court. according to chris cox, the director of n.r.a.'s institute prosecutor legislative action: in the city of lancaster with a population of less than 60,000, half of which is aimish the n.r.a. is whelming an ordnance req

pretty strong ones for the national rifle association.a new interview with "rolling stone" gumbel targets the group with millions of members saying there are few things i hate more than the nra. i think they're pigs. i think they don't care about human life. i think they're a curse upon the american landscape." i am one to not like the national rifle association but i wouldn't say that. what do you think got into him here? >> his hatred and ideology overtook him not realizing how many wonderful people are members of the nra. he may not like what the nra stands for but he just encompassed everyone who's an nra member. women, children, heroes, veterans. those are the people who are going to be very insulted by what he said. >> dana, what do you think? >> in particular -- he has a right to say whatever he wants. the part i didn't really understand is that they don't care about human life which it's actually -- i think that's very unfair what they're trying to do is protect human life. i think what bryant gumbel is really against i would thin

. >>> several pennsylvania cities are fighting back after being sued by the national rifle associatione n.r.a. claims they violate the constitution. >> reporter: the national rifle association is suing the cities of lancaster, philadelphia and pittsburgh, pennsylvania while two other pro-second amendment groups are suing pennsylvania's capitol, harrisburg. the suits were filed just days after state law went into effect allowing gun owners and gun groups to challenge local gun laws in court and seek legal fees and other costs. pennsylvania has barred local officials from passing their own gun measures since 1.974. the law was rarely enforce did. over the years, a growing number of cities and towns enacted laws strict earn those in effect statewide. >> when house bill 80 was signed into law last year it became the strongest firearms pre-emption statute in the country. not only does it establish state law precedent over firearms. it also says gun owners don't have to show they have harmed by an ordinance to win in court. according to chris cox, the executive director of the n.r.a.'s insti

. >> the national rifle association. >> the national rifle association. we also have super pacs left and right and those are very popular because they kind of capture all the issues in one bundle. keep in mind that there would have to be some reporting of the failure. >> then the money goes to some truly odeo cause. >> and the other part that also is very popular and very effective for a lot of people. >> so do you have to admit that you failed on facebook or twitter? >> but why do our resolutions so often fail? because humans like you and me and walter michele, both of us former smokers temp orly discount valuing immediate rewards much more than those in the future. >> so if it's not now it's essentially never because the future, for example the cancer that i could get if i kept smoking is probe-- it is distant. we don't know for sure. and so it might as well not be there. unless i do something that makes the far away consequence immediate and vivid. >> hence the graphic warnings on canadian cigarettes. a similar image 50 years ago got michelle a three-p

. >>> and the national rifle association is going up against philadelphia. we'll get details on the law that pitted the two against each other. >>> weir're hearing from kathleen kane for the first time since reports surface that a grand jury recommended charging her. kane spoke outside the farm show in harrisburg yesterday. she said she will not back down and intends to remain attorney general for the rest of her term. the philadelphia inquirer reported last week that a grand jury found she should be charged for leaking secret material to the "daily news." and now kane is calling on the governor to appoint a special investigator into how that information was leaked. >> it's a real disappointment in the way that this process has worked. i've dedicated my life to the law. i love the law. i believe in it. i've worked hard to get here. and seeing the way that this process has worked is a huge disappointment. >> so far kane is not charged with any crime. >>> and governor-elect tom wolf will visit the farm show this morning in harrisburg. some of the people he has

." >>> the national rifle association taking aim at philadelphia gun ordinances. they filed a lawsuit against the city today. it says seven of philadelphia's gun ordinances are barred by state law. it wants a court to ban enforcement of them. philadelphia da's office told "nbc10 news" it's always the best solution for the state to enact a mandatory minimum sentence for carrying an illegal gun in philadelphia. >>> new at 6:00. police in mercer county have tracked down the suspect they say robbed an elderly man inside his ewing apartment last month. they say george tillman jr. put the 86-year-old man in a headlock, held a pair of scissors to his neck and demanded money. police arrested tillman last night in trenton. he's now in the mercer county correction center on $350,000 bail. >>> the suspect accused of stabbing three men and dumping them in the schuylkill is now in custody. he was arrested at a motel in virginia yesterday. investigators say lee and members of a gang targeted the three men over a drug debt last august. two of the victims who were brothers died.

. >> but last year, the national rifle association helped defeat president obama's gun control proposal, which would have required background checks for all private sales at gun shows and online. >> gerry stoudemire is president of the gun owners club of south carolina, and works closely with the nra here. >> ok, right now it is loaded and ready to fire... >> it's empty. there are millions of guns sold every year in the us that never hurt anybody. and the people don't intend to hurt anybody. the purpose for buying it was not for doing harm to another person. but for shooting. >> so you think that the laws that are in place right now are the right ones? no more laws are necessary? >> i feel that we have plenty of laws in effect that are not being enforced. >> for example? >> people that are prohibited from having guns or shooting people everyday with them. what's the penalty for getting for doing it? are we enforcing the penalty, or are we having a revolving court system that just puts them right back on the street and they do it again the next day. this is what i've see the problem to b

are national rifle association sued are lancaster pennsylvania, saying quest questioned the way the militarys its budget focusing on high technical weapons at the expense of weapons training and welfare almost double its pre9/11 levels in real dollars. to discuss this further jen and mark. who joins us from washington. thank you both for joining me mr. rowe i'm going to start with you. >> pleasure to be here. >> absolutely. the defense budget is roughly twice what it was before 9/11 in real dollars and no sign in sight of it actually shrinking. what is so difficult about restructuring the defense budget? >> right. so there are two factors at play here. you don't see public demand for reducing defense spending. you see public demand for a strong defense to make america safe and secure but you don't see public movement to cut defense. on the other hand, those who benefit from defense spending especially defense contractors they will fight tooth and nail to protect that funding because that funding is their life blood. if it goes away they go away. so no public support for reducing spending and

. >>> and, the national rifle association is suing philadelphia and two other pennsylvania cities, over gun laws. the nra is hoping a court will over turn seven of philadelphia's gun control laws. a new state law passed last week makes it easier for the group to challenge how each city rec late gun safety issues. mayor michael nutter says the city hoping to keep reasonable gun control laws in place also suing pittsburgh, lancaster, all over their gun control measures. >> time now 4:10. a pennsylvania prison goes up in flames, what happened to the inmate and the workers inside. >> and, as expected, it didn't take long for things to heat up between congress and the white house. and now a vote to change one of president barack obama's initiatives could have serious immediate implications for thousands of us. we'll explain. >> ♪ ♪ >>> how are you doing, jenn fred? >> i'm grade. -- great. i don't know who this is. oh the raspberry's. >> hey, we just learned some breaking news in the news room a casino company was struggling with atlantic city just filed for bankruptcy. steve keeley is on the

. >> the national rifle association has given earnest an "a" rating. earnest said that she would use a gun to defend herself from the government. >> i have a beautiful little smith & wesson 9 millimeter and it goes with me virtually everywhere, but i do believe in the right to carry and i believe in the right to defend myself and my family whether it is from an intruder or from a government should they decide my rights no longer important. >> what's the bottom line here? joanie earnest being selected to respond makes a mockery of the state of the union. earnest chosen to respond is an absolute joke. americans, you know what we're looking for? solutions. the president wants free community college tuition. he wants to expand high-speed internet, even in rural america. he's going to talk about cuba tonight, immigration, and climate change. he will outline his new tax plan. americans are not looking for a partisan hack to degrade and dismiss the president of the united states. the country wants to congress to work with president obama. earnest is just anot

also this week, more lawsuits filed seek to go weaken gun laws the national rife rifle association suedtsburgh and penn contending local gun control measures can't go i don't understand what is permitted at the state level. an article in the atlantic magazine questioned how the military spends his budget. also rarely asked whether the country really needs a defense budget almost double its pre9/11 levels in real dollars to discuss the issue you further let's bring in jen a civil rights lawyer. thank you for coming. and mark rome associate dean for academic affairs at georgetown university school of public policy joining us from washington. thank you both for joining me, mr. rome i will start for you. >> good to be here. >> the defense budge set roughly twice what it was before 9/11 in real dollars and no sign in sight of it shrinking. what is so difficult about restructuring the defense budget? >> right. so two factors at play here, downtown see public demand for reducing defense spends issue see public demands for a strong defense to make america safe and secure, but you don't see publ

and weapons on january 5, a law takes effect giving the national rifle association giving a better chance of challenging local firearms ordinances in court. in general pennsylvania bars municipalities from enforcing ordinances that are stronger than state law but the nra has complained that dozens of local ordinances go unchallenged. from north carolina he says country we better off, tell us why. >> i think it is good because of the things president obama has done. i think he or his team has not run a good job on telling the country what he has done. i think really the republicans wanted chambers and they have it now and they are pretty much well boxed in because if they want to have a chance it 2016 they will have to show they can govern. i want to disagree with the devious caller saying that harry reid let bills come to the floor, he let ills come to the floor by the republicans presented him with bills they knew the president wasn't going to pass so -- the republicans have to show they can govern because they cannot sit back there and say, obama this and obama that. they have to show t

campaign to educate people like jeff foxworthy and alan jackson about the horrors of the national rifle associationf people like jeff foxworthy and allen jackson. >> how did gun control work for people in last elections. i don't remember any gun control winning. >> there were victories in washington state with what they call universal background checks and things like that. but when it comes to the way that moms demand and shannon ross who runs moms demand operate is they can't win on the issues and can't win over hearts and minds they instead attack celebrities with public pressure. they did this with jay leno for the shot show. he was supposed to perform at the shot show later this month. he caved to that pressure. jeff foxworthy and allen jackson are not interested in someone like shannon watts who is find funded by michael bloomberg educating them about the issues. i do want to point out that last year at the nra convention in indianapolis. shannon watts showed up in a fleet of suvs and with armed body guards to protest at the nra. >> wait, wait, wait. no, back up. you are telling me that a pro